Georgia SS7G2.b

Social Studies7th GradeAfrica

The Standard

Explain the relationship between poor soil and deforestation in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Georgia Standards of Excellence for Social Studies · Explain environmental issues across the continent of Africa.

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students explain a two-way cycle. Removing trees exposes soil to erosion and nutrient loss. When fields produce less, farmers may clear more forest for farmland or fuel.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student can build and explain a chain from tree removal to exposed ground, erosion, nutrient loss, and lower crop yields. The student can also explain how low yields can push people to clear another plot.
Common Misconceptions: Students may think ash from burned trees keeps cleared land fertile permanently. They may also assume every part of Sub-Saharan Africa has poor soil or miss how repeated clearing worsens the problem.
How to Assess It: Exit ticket: Draw a cycle using tree removal, bare soil, erosion, lower crop yields, and new land clearing. Label each arrow with a cause.

Lesson moves

Pour equal cups of water over planted and bare soil trays, then compare runoff color and the amount of soil lost.
Write a cause-and-effect paragraph answering: How can cutting trees make farming harder and lead farmers to clear more land?
Give pairs cause-and-effect cards to arrange into a cycle: tree cutting, erosion, nutrient loss, lower yields, and more land clearing.
Compare dated satellite images of cocoa farms in Côte d’Ivoire, then annotate where forest loss could affect fields and streams.

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