Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Grade Level: 7
II. MATERIALS:
Tape (for sections of the room)
Labels (for sections of the room)
Gold and Salt Pieces to be cut out
9 pieces of paper
Rules for barter system (to be projected)
Rules for Trading Game (to be projected)
Vocabulary assignment (sheets and online)
Discussion questions
Reading Packets (in case of early end)
III. STATE/Local Standards:
History 8: Empires in Africa (Ghana, Mali and Songhay) and Asia (Byzantine, Ottoman,
Mughal and China) grew as commercial and cultural centers along trade routes.
Geography 14: Trade routes connecting Africa, Europe, and Asia fostered the spread of
technology and major world religions.
Geography 15: Improvements in transportation, communication and technology have
facilitated cultural diffusion among peoples around the world.
Economics 19: Individuals, governments and businesses must analyze costs and benefits
when making economic decisions. A cost benefit analysis consists of determining the
potential costs and benefits of an action and then balancing the costs against the benefits.
Economics 20: The variability in the distribution of productive resources in various
regions of the world contributed to specialization, trade and interdependence.
IV. Learning Targets:
I can explain how trade in salt and gold lead to the growth of Ghana and Mali
I can describe the government of Ghana
Riley Kushner
I can evaluate how trade affected different groups in West Africa both culturally
and religiously
V. PROCEDURES:
Group Size: 22
Riley Kushner
understand the historical analogies. (Note: Historical analogies for each step are
also provided below. Do not reveal the historical analogies to students now.)
Tips for Step 1
Remind students that this is a practice round.
For this practice round, make sure that each trader is paired with a Wangaran
miner.
Historical Analogy- Crawling across the desert represents the difficulty of transSaharan trade.
-Payment of the gold token to the Ghana official represents the tax Ghana charged
on goods coming into and going out of Ghana.
-Turning their backs represents the system of silent barter used by the North
African traders and Wangarans.
Tips for Step 2
Emphasize that students may not talk during the trading.
They must turn their backs after an offer has been made.
They must clap to indicate that some decision has been reached.
Remind students that gold and salt tokens will be returned aft er this practice
round.
Historical Analogy- Clapping represents the beating of drums announcing a trade
offer.
Tips for Step 3
Explain that if either the North African trader or the Wangaran gold miner is
unhappy with the first offer made by the other, he or she can make a counteroffer.
For this practice round, state that the North African trader is not happy with the
Wangarans offer. Have students practice the options listed. When they understand
how to make a counteroffer, have them return the tokens they have traded.
Historical Analogy- Although the game allows only one counteroffer per trade,
silent barter, historically, might have continued for many rounds over several
days.
Tip for Step 4
Explain that after North African traders have traded their three tokens, they can
get more salt tokens for trading by going to Taghaza, but on the way they must
pay taxes to Ghana officials.
Historical Analogy- This step is analogous to how traders paid Ghana a tax
whenever they moved goods through Ghana.
5. Have students play the game independently. In the presentation, project
Information Master 12B: Conducting Trade in West Africa and read through the
steps and rules listed there. Ask if students have any questions. Then allow them
to play for 20 minutes or until a few students have no tokens left with which to
trade.
If students have difficulty distinguishing who is clapping, have students whisper
their names when they clap. Also, you may wish to have the Taghaza salt miners
write receipts for salt, which traders must show to the Ghana officials for tax
purposes as they travel through Ghana. This will prevent students from trying to
smuggle salt through Ghana.
Riley Kushner
6. Declare the winners. Have the traders count their gold tokens and the gold
miners count their salt tokens. Declare the winners to be the North African trader
and the Wangaran miner who have the most of their required tokens. Also ask the
Ghana officials to report how many gold tokens they collected.
7. Debrief the activity. Ask,
What problems did you encounter when you could not talk with the person with
whom you wished to trade?
Why might North African traders and Wangaran gold miners have used a
method of trading that involved silent communication?
How were the students who represented Ghana able to get gold?
Why were traders willing to pay this tax to Ghana?