Why did European Civilization

Develop Differently than African

Civilization?
Teacher
Information
Begin
Lesson

Social Studies Standards Met




STAIR Objective
Back to
Title
Page
Benchmark SOC.I.1.HS.3
Identify some of the major eras in world history
and describe their defining characteristics.

Benchmark SOC.II.4.HS.1
Explain how major world processes affect
different world regions.

Benchmark SOC.II.4.HS.4
Describe major patterns of economic
development and political systems and explain
some of the factors causing them.


Standards
Objectives
Students will understand how geography played
a significant role in Africa and Europes
development

Students will understand how the development
of agriculture and animal domestication leads to
greater complex civilizations

Students will understand how complex
civilizations have advantages over less complex
civilizations
Choose Your Path
Back to
Title
Page
The Major Ironic Question
to Think About
(Recommended 1
st
Click)
The Agriculture
Advantage
Geography
Matters
Help Amani
Activity
(Recommended
last Click)
Africa is known as the cradle of mankind. It is here that human life first
began. Some time around 100,000 to 50,000 years ago some people
started slowly moving out of Africa and into the Middle East, Europe,
Asia, and Australia.
Click for
Major Ironic
Question
Africa - where
humans first
lived
Archeologists
have found the
earliest human
remains here
If humans lived in Africa
before they lived
anywhere else in the
world, then why were
Europeans the first to
develop a civilization that
allowed them to conquer
and exploit Africa,
instead of Africans
developing a civilization
that allowed them to
conquer and exploit
Europeans?
Click for
Understanding Check
Doesnt it seem like Africans would have the
development advantage over Europeans
because they lived on the same land for
thousands of year longer? Wouldnt this give
them more time to be settled and develop
technology that could eventually help them
conquer Europeans and the rest of the world?
What is the ironic question that this
activity is going to answer?
A) Why did the civilizations of the Middle East and Europe develop in
a way that allowed them to conquer and exploit Africa, despite
African development having thousands of years head start





B) Why did the civilizations of Africa develop in a way that allowed
them to conquer and exploit the Middle East and Europe, despite
Euro/Middle Eastern development having a thousands of years
head start
Review
Information
Review Major
Ironic Question
Correct!
Remember!!! The irony is that the people of Africa lived there for thousands of
years before people ever moved into the Middle East and Europe. But despite the
head start in civilization development, it would be the people of the Middle East
and Europe who developed their civilizations in a way that eventually was able to
conquer and exploit Africa
About 10,000 years ago a
major difference
occurred amongst those
people living in Africa
and those people living
in the regions of the
Middle East and Europe.
This difference was:
The
development of
agriculture and
animal
domestication
But while this development in farming 10,000 years ago
took place in parts of the Middle East and Europe. The
people of Africa remained hunting and gathering their food
for another 5,000 years
Which Area of the world was the
first to develop agriculture and
animal domestication?
A) Africa
B) Europe/Middle East
D) None of the above
Correct!
So Why Does It Matter Who Developed
Agriculture First?
Click When Ready To Play
The Development Game
Objective: Help the hunter/gatherer Grog find enough
food to stay alive and develop his civilization
Rules:
1) Choose from one of three hunting/gathering areas
to go and look for food
2) Some areas will have food. Others will not. If you
dont find food your hunger meter will decrease. If
you find food it will increase.
3) Each time you go hunting you will spend the entire
day walking to the area and hunting/gathering for
food
4) After each day click on the Caesar icon to see how
his civilization's development is doing in the
Middle East/Europe part of the world
Grog
(Hunter/Gatherer)
Caesar
(Farmer/Animal
Domesticator)
Starving Hungry Full
Choose
which area I
should hunt
and gather in
Food Bar:
Starving Hungry Full
I just spent a
whole day
hunting and
gathering
but I found
nothing
Hows
Caesars
Development?
Starving Hungry Full
Its nice to know that
when you grow and
raise your own food,
you can stay in one
place. Now I can build a
home to live in instead
of always having to
move where the food is.
Return to
Hunting/Gathering
with Grog
Starving Hungry Full
Choose
which area I
should hunt
and gather in
Starving Hungry Full
I just spent a
whole day
hunting and
gathering but I
found nothing.
Now Im starving!

Hows
Caesars
Development?
Starving Hungry Full
Its nice to know that when you
grow and raise your own food,
you can stay in one place. Now I
can build a home to live in instead
of always having to move where
the food is. And now Ive got
extra time to invent weapons that
will be able to kill anyone who
tries to rob my farm, animals, or
home!
Return to
Hunting/Gathering
with Grog
Starving Hungry Full
Choose
which area I
should hunt
and gather in
Starving Hungry Full
I just spent a whole day
hunting and gathering and I
killed a lion! I ate it until I
was full, but I could not
carry back a lot of extra
meat because I had my
spear with me. A few hours
later I will be hungry again
and I know I will soon have
to begin looking for more
food!
Hows
Caesars
Development?
Starving Hungry Full Extra Food To Trade
Its nice to know that when you grow and
raise your own food, you can stay in one
place. Now I can build a home to live in
instead of always having to move where
the food is. And now Ive got extra time to
invent weapons that will be able to kill
anyone who tries to rob my farm, animals,
or home. Now my farm has produced extra
food that I can use as a trade good. With
all this trading Ive now invented a method
of writing so that I can keep track of my
financial accounts.
Return to
Hunting/Gathering
with Grog
Starving Hungry Full
Choose
which area I
should hunt
and gather in
Starving Hungry Full
I just spent a
whole day
hunting and
gathering but I
found nothing.
Now Im starving!

Hows
Caesars
Development?
Starving Hungry Full Extra Food To Trade
Its nice to know that when you grow and raise
your own food, you can stay in one place. Now I
can build a home to live in instead of always
having to move where the food is. And now Ive
got extra time to invent weapons that will be able
to kill anyone who tries to rob my farm, animals,
or home. Now my farm has produced extra food
that I can use as a trade good. With all this
trading Ive now invented a method of writing so
that I can keep track of my financial accounts.
This invention of writing has allowed me and
other people to start writing laws so that we can
live amongst each other peacefully, and help fight
off other cities that we dont agree with.
Return to
Hunting/
Gathering
with Grog
Starving Hungry Full
Choose which
area I should
hunt and gather
in


Starving Hungry Full
I just spent a whole day
hunting and gathering
but I found nothing. If I
dont eat soon Im going
to die. I better leave this
entire area and hope to
find food somewhere
else.

Hows
Caesars
Development?
Starving Hungry Full Extra Food To Trade
Its nice to know that when you grow and raise your
own food, you can stay in one place. Now I can build
a home to live in instead of always having to move
where the food is. And now Ive got extra time to
invent weapons that will be able to kill anyone who
tries to rob my farm, animals, or home. Now my farm
has produced extra food that I can use as a trade
good. With all this trading Ive now invented a method
of writing so that I can keep track of my financial
accounts. This invention of writing has allowed me
and other people to start writing laws so that we can
live amongst each other peacefully, and help fight off
other cities that we dont agree with. Now, weve built
giant boats so that we can sail to this land known as
Africa so that we can take the people living there as
slaves and use their raw materials as trade goods to
make money!
Return to
Hunting/
Gathering
with Grog
Starving Hungry Full
Grog? Grog? Wheres Grog?
Hes probably either died from
starvation, moved on to areas where he
can find food, been killed by Caesar and
his army, or taken as Caesars slave.
What advantage did Caesars civilization
have over Grogs, that helped his
civilization develop faster?
A) Caesars civilization did not have any advantages

B) Caesars civilization had agriculture, which meant they had a steady
food source. This allowed them to stay in the same place and not
have to constantly worry about where their next meal would come
from. Having a constant food supply allowed his civilization the extra
time to start developing other technologies

C) From the beginning, Caesars civilization had better weapons than
Brogs civilization. Thus they were able to conquer them
Correct!
The humans living in the Middle East and Europe developed
agriculture first. This meant that they stopped the nomadic life
style of living wherever there was a source of food. Once the
humans had a constant, dependable source of food, they
could stay put and spend their extra time not on having to
worry about food, but instead building homes and inventing
new technologies like weapons or writing. These technologies
would continue to build upon each other until the societies in
the Middle East and Europe were vastly more complex in terms
of technology and the ability to conquer and explore other
parts of the world.
Geography Matters
Geography of
Crops
Geography of
Animals
Choose
Of all the plants in the world, only a few have allowed
themselves to be grown in large numbers which will then
yield a product that can be consumed for food.
For the people of the
Middle East and
Europe, the crops of
wheat and barely
happened to be native
to these areas.
Africa too had its own native crops such as yams
and millets. But these native crops were not
develop into agriculture until a few thousand years
after the people of the Middle East and Europe were
already growing their own food.
Yams? Wheat? Whats the
difference? Its all just food.
Actually, the people of the
Middle East and Europe had
the geographic advantage of
being on a landmass that is
heavily oriented towards the
direction longitude. Whereas
the African continent is more
oriented towards latitude.
Latitude lines on the map that go horizontally across. Latitude is
measured from the equator, with positive values going north
and negative values going south

Longitude lines on the map that go up and down. Longitude
is measured from the Prime Meridian (which is the longitude
that runs through Greenwich, England) with positive values
going east and negative values going west.
This is the
equator a line
of latitude that
moves north
and south
This is the Prime
Meridian a line of
longitude that
moves east and
west
The lines on this earth are:
A)Latitude Lines

B) Longitude Lines
Quick Question:

Correct!


What do you think would cause you to
experience a more dramatic change in
temperature? Moving from latitude to
latitude or longitude to longitude?
A) Latitude

B) Longitude
Correct!
Moving latitudes can increase or decrease the temperatures that a person feels
more significantly than moving longitudes. Every time a person moves latitudes
they move either further away or closer to the equator, which is the hottest area
on the earth. Therefore, if a person moves away from the equator the
temperatures get colder, and if they move towards it, the temperatures get
hotter.
Equator
Whereas moving
between longitudes
keeps a person in the
relatively same
climate/temperature
zones.
The Wheat, Yam, Barley, and Millet Game

Objective:
Pick the two crops that will be able to travel across the most land
area and still be planted. If your crops fades (dies) you
chose poorly.

The game is on your honor (you can click on them all if you want).
Click the arrow button when youre done
How Does latitude and longitude affect crops?
Wheat Yam Barely Millet
Think about the game. Which crops
were more likely to spread across
the land?
A) The Crops in the Middle East/Europe

B) The Crops in Africa
Considering how crops react to
temperatures, which civilization
would have an easier time spreading
out and populating the land?
A) The civilizations in Africa

B) The civilizations in the Middle East
and Europe
Below are some of the animals that are
native to both the African and Middle
Eastern/European regions
Why Didnt people in Africa domesticate animals like
lions and giraffes as the people of the Middle East and
Europe domesticated the sheep and cow?
Watch the time line
Humans in Africa hunt the native animals.
There are no humans in the Middle East and
Europe
100,000 Years Ago
Humans continue to hunt animals in Africa
while there are still no Humans in the Middle
East and Europe
50,000 Years Ago
Humans continue to hunt animals in Africa. But because the
animals in Africa have been hunted by humans for so long they
are now starting to develop a healthy fear of them. There are still
no humans in the Middle East and Europe
25,000 Years Ago
Humans continue to hunt animals in Africa. But because the animals in Africa have
been hunted by humans for so long they are now starting to develop a healthy fear
of them. Now the animals do not live as close nor do they come as close as they
once did. The animals know humans will hurt them. Human have just arrived in the
Middle East and Europe. The animals have no idea that they should be afraid of
humans.
10,000 Years Ago
Because humans hunted the African animals for so long, the animals developed
a fear to stay as far away as possible and never developed the mentality to be
domesticated. Whereas the animals in the Middle East and Europe never had a
chance to develop a fear of man as the they were quickly domesticated instead of
being hunted for such a long period of time.
5,000 Years Ago
Why did Africans have a hard time
domesticating their animals?
A) Africans never had a hard time domesticating
their animals

B) Africans had been hunting their native animals
for so long that over time the animals
developed a fear of man and an instinct to stay
away

C) The Europeans Attacked the Africans before
they could domesticate
Correct!
Keep Your
Distance Boys,
hes had that
spear for the
last 100,000
years!
Hi,
my name is Amani Jones. I am looking to start a
civilization, but I am not sure where I should start it
or what I should do when I get there. Could you
please pick the factors that I need to have so that
my society will quickly develop into one that will
invent new technologies and give me the
capabilities to conquer other places in the world if I
chose to? Then will you please click on the button
that says reasons for choices and type in your
explanations? Make sure you print out your
reasons when you are done and turn them into that
wonderful World Studies teacher Mr. Abeel.

Thanks for your help,
Amani
Do I want a civilization that is on a piece
of land which is oriented more towards
latitude or longitude?
Do I want a civilization that has spent
thousands of years hunting the animals before
I domesticate them or one that has never seen
the animals that I will domesticate?
Do I want a civilization that
develops agriculture and
domesticates animals or do I
want a civilization that is based
around hunters and gatherers?
Reason for
Choices
Do I want a civilization that is on a piece
of land which is oriented more towards
latitude or longitude?
Do I want a civilization that has spent
thousands of years hunting the animals before
I domesticate them or one that has never seen
the animals that I will domesticate?
Do I want a civilization that
develops agriculture and
domesticates animals or do I
want a civilization that is
based around hunters and
gatherers?
Correct Answer
Think about all that you have learned about civilization
development. What one major factor do you think allowed
people in the Middle East and Europe to develop a civilization
that allowed them to conquer the continent and people of
Africa, instead of the people of Africa conquering the people
of the Middle East and Europe?
A) Agricultural development
B) Animal domestication
C) Geography
D) Hunting and Gathering
Thank you for participating in this
StAIR Project

Please make sure you
complete the last
question on your
question sheet.
Please make sure
you answer
in complete
sentences.
Correct!!!