For this activity, students will need to use an Africa Reference map (R-1f).
Let’s go on a scavenger hunt!
A scavenger hunt is a game in which you look for a list of items and the first person to find everything on the list is the winner. The twist to this game is that everything that is on our list can be found on a map of Africa. So we are going to go on a Map Scavenger Hunt! We will search all over the map to find different features on the African continent and then record our findings on an activity sheet. This activity will help us learn more about Africa and its people and places.
There are two different versions of this activity available: K-3rd or 3rd+. The younger version has 10 items to find. The older version has up to 20. The first 10 items are exactly the same for both versions.
Hint: make this activity easier for younger students by making it an oral activity instead of a written activity.
Finally, up the “fun factor” by making it a competition between kids to see who can find all of the items first. Or let the children work together to help each other find the answers.
Download your Map Scavenger Hunt below:
Scroll down for the answers. <wink>
Map Scavenger Hunt Answers
Note: Answers for #1-10 are the same for both versions
1. Find a country on the mainland of Africa that begins with the letter:
A [Algeria or Angola]
B [Botswana, Burundi, Benin or Burkina Faso]
C [Chad, Cameroon, Congo, Central African Republic, or Cote D’Ivoire]
2. Name the island through which the Tropic of Capricorn runs. [Madagascar]
3. Name the oceans that surround Africa. [Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean]
4. Name the largest lake in Africa. [Lake Victoria]
5. Find two countries in Africa that begin with the letter “Z”. [Zambia and Zimbabwe]
6. How many African countries border the Mediterranean Sea? Name them.
[5: Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco]
7. Name the large desert region found in the northern 1/3 of the African continent. [Sahara Desert]
8. What is the capital of Egypt? [Cairo]
9. Name the longest river in Africa. [The Nile River]
10. How many seas border Africa? [2] Name them. [Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea]
11. What is the largest country in Africa? [Algeria]
12. Name the imaginary lines at 0° latitude and 0° longitude that run through the continent of Africa. [Equator and Prime Meridian]
13. One country in Africa is completely surrounded by one other country. Name it. [Lesotho]
14. Name two countries found in the Horn of Africa. [Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti]
15. Which European country is separated from Africa by the Strait of Gibraltar. [Spain]
16. Name the highest mountain in Africa. [Mt. Kilimanjaro]
17. The Nile River empties in to which body of water. [Mediterranean Sea]
18. Name the mountain range found on the Northern border of Africa? [Atlas Mountains]
19. Name the countries that border Lake Victoria. [Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania]
20. The Tropic of Capricorn runs through which countries? [Namibia, Botswana, South Africa, and Mozambique]