Africa contains many diverse landforms including the Sahara Desert, the largest hot desert in the world. The Great Rift Valley is approximately 3,700 miles long running through East Africa and contains some of the deepest lakes in Africa. Mount Kilimanjaro is the tallest mountain in Africa and its glaciers are diminishing rapidly. Major rivers include the Nile River, the longest river in the world, and the Congo River, which flows through the second largest rainforest in the world.

1. Entry Task:
What landforms are
found in Africa?
Give specific names
if you can!

2. Objective:
◦The students will be
able to identify and
describe the physical
features (landforms) of
Africa.

5. Africa is
DIVERSE!
 Biodiversity = the variety of life
◦ Plants and Animal Species
◦ Environments, Ecosystems and
Habitats
“There are few things as beautiful and
inspiring as the diversity of life
that exists on Earth.”

6. Interactive Notebook:
Title = Physical Map of
Africa
Complete the physical map
of Africa as we explore the
various physical features of
the continent!

8. Deserts
Sahara Desert
Sahel
Sahara Desert
Sahel Desert
Kalahari Desert
Namib Desert
Cross off
Nubian Desert!

9. Sahara Desert:
 The Sahara is the largest hot desert in
the world. With a total area of more
than 9,400,000 km², it is almost as
large as the United States or the
continent of Europe. The Sahara is
increasing due to global warming, a
process known as desertification.

10. Sahara Desert
•5-25 mm rainfall annually
•30 – 55 degrees Celsius!
•Extremely windy: hot, dust-
filled winds create dust devils
which make temperatures
feel hotter.
•70 species of mammal
•90 species of birds
•100 species of reptiles

11. The Sahel
Sahel means “edge” or “shore” of the desert.

12. Kalahari Desert
 Means “The Great Thirst”
 Not actually a desert
 World’s Largest Sand
Basin
 Antelopes, hyenas, lions,
giraffes, meerkats
 Diamond mines

13. The Kalahari Desert:
 Not your typical sandy desert. The
Kalahari experiences lots of rainfall
but what makes it a desert is that the
rainfall is sporadic and it never settles
on the surface making vegetation and
the survival of the tribes of the
Kalahari and animals a challenge.

14. Bodies Of
Water:
Nile River
Zambezi River
Orange River
Limpopo River
Mediterranean Sea
Atlantic Ocean
Pacific Ocean
Indian Ocean
L. Victoria
L. Albert-->
L. Chad-->
L. Tanganyika->
Mediterranean
Sea
Atlantic Ocean
Indian Ocean
Congo River
Niger River
Nile River
Zambezi River

15. The Nile River:
 The Nile is currently the longest river
in the world, stretching north for
approximately 4,000 miles from East
Africa to the Mediterranean.

16. The Nile River Basin
(Longest River in the World?)
Geography for
the Nile River
valley was
important for
early civilization.
The Nile would
flood each year
starting July –
Nov. This flood
would provide
with new, rich
soil and wash

17. Lake Victoria:
 Lake Victoria is the world’s second-
largest freshwater body. It is close to
the source of the Nile River. It was
named after the British Queen
Victoria, as Uganda was a colony of
Britain.

18. Victoria Falls Video
https://www.youtube.co
m/watch?v=_gQ8xnI2LV
k

19. Δ Mt. Kenya
Δ Mt. Kilimanjaro
Mountains
Atlas
Mountains
Mt. Kenya
Mt. Kilimanjaro

20. Mount Kilimanjaro:
 The largest mountain in Africa. The
mountain’s snow caps are diminishing,
having lost more than 80 percent of
their mass since 1912. In fact, they may
be completely ice free within the next 20
years, according to scientists.

21. Mt. Kilimanjaro: Snow on the Equator?
•Composed of 3 extinct
volcanoes:
Kibo, Mawenzi, & Shira
•Kibo may be completely
gone within 20 years due to
the melting glaciers.
•25,000 people a year attempt
to climb the mountain.
•Ms. Haines!!

22. Great Rift Valley
•4,000-mile crack in the earth's crust
•Greatest rupture on Earth’s surface
•Contains lowest place below sea level
•Includes Africa’s tallest mountain:
Kilimanjaro
•Some of the world’s deepest lakes
•Can be seen from the moon
•Many hot springs

24. The Great Rift Valley:
 Approximately 3,700 miles in length, it
runs from northern Syria in Southwest
Africa to central Mozambique in East
Africa. It contains some of the deepest
lakes in the world, including Lake
Tanganyika & Lake Victoria (Africa’s
Great Lakes).

25. Other maps of
Rift Valley

26. Use this source to
complete the physical
map!
http://lizardpoint.com/geo
graphy/africa-physical-
quiz.php

27. The Congo River Basin
• 90 inches of rain
yearly
• Because of the heat
around the equator,
it is home to hippos,
manatees, snakes,
crocs, tortoises,
elephants,
mosquitos
• The grasslands are
home to buffalo,
antelope, zebras,
gazelles, and
giraffes.
• People grow peanuts,
cotton, sugarcane

28. The Congo Rainforest,
Democratic Republic of
Congo
 The second-largest rainforest in the
world after the Amazon. Ivory,
diamonds, timber, and gold are some
of the natural resources found in the
jungle and the river basin.

29. African Rain Forest
# Annual rainfall of up to 17 ft.

30. The Niger River Basin
#11th largest river in the world
#Oil is one of the main sources of income from this river.

31. Cape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope was originally named the Cape of Storms by
Portuguese explorer Bartholomew Dias in 1488. Dias became the first
European to travel around the tip of Africa.
The Cape was renamed the Cape of Good Hope by Portugal's King John II
because it allowed an easier trade route with India.
The Cape of Good Hope has a reputation for being the southernmost tip
of Africa, but the most southern point is actually Cape Agulhas, the official
division between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans

32. The African Savannah:

33. The Serengeti Plains
 The Serengeti Plains are a grass
savanna that has very dry but nutrient-
rich volcanic sand. Around 2 million
large plant-eating mammals live in the
savanna. There are 45 species of
mammals, almost 500 species of
birds, and 55 species of acacia tree in
the biome.

34. Vegetation Zones
Deserts
Grasslands
Tropical
Forests
Mediterranea
n

35. http://mapmaker.educatio
n.nationalgeographic.co
m/cMCDuTOxy3gSE4Rf7
dMybp/
http://www.purposegame
s.com/game/28f6f9c0a3