Emergence of Complex States

Lesson notes

Curriculum details

Strand

States and Societies in Pre-Colonial Times (Strand 2)

Sub-strand

Emergence of Complex States (2.1)

Content standard

1.2.1.CS.1 - Demonstrate understanding of Pre- Historic Ghana. (50, 000 BCE to 700 CE) 1.2.1.LO.1 Use relevant historical evidence to reconstruct the emergence of complex human cultures in Pre-Historic Ghana. 1.2.1.LO.2 Use relevant historical evidence to analyse the diverse migration accounts and draw conclusions on why and how the peoples of Ghana created settlements; recounting the key factors that led to their rise and decline. 1.2.1.LO.3 Use relevant historical sources in the environment to reconstruct the unique socio-cultural, political, and scientific systems of selected indigenous Ghanaian states and kingdoms and compare with contemporary Ghanaian society.

Indicator

1.2.1.LI.2 - Analyse the Pre-Historic Periods in Ghana.

Suggested placement

Semester 1, Week 12 (Week 12 of the year)

Our suggestion, laid out in curriculum order across three terms of twelve weeks. NaCCA does not fix the week, so follow your school's scheme of learning.

Source document note

The official curriculum document has a fault in this entry, so the curriculum text above is transcribed exactly as printed:

• indicator text - p.41: the document prints this learning-indicator code as "1.2.1.L1.2" - a digit one where the I of LI belongs. Settled from the file, not from the rendered stroke: the page's content stream draws the code as the TJ operands (1.2.) (1.L1.) (2) with a WinAnsiEncoding simple TrueType font that carries no ToUnicode CMap, so the byte after the L is 0x31, DIGIT ONE; in this face the digit one and the capital I are different outlines with twice the advance width (1024 against 512); and every L1 code run in the document measures 64 px wide against 60 for every LI run of the same length. Filed under LI, which is the document's own code vocabulary (CS|LO|LI|AS)

Curriculum reference

NaCCA curriculum document, p. 41

Exemplars (from the NaCCA curriculum)

Enquiry Routes: What is Pre-History? What is the pre-historic period in Ghana's history? What are the main phases and features of pre-historic Ghana?
Talk for Learning: Using the Think-Pair-Share technique, learners discuss the era referred to as "Pre-History". Use mind maps to organise the thoughts of learners.
Problem-Based Learning:
- Learners use information from the internet or standard textbooks to describe the phases of Ghana's pre-historic era.
- Learners formulate historical questions to discuss the features of Ghana's Early Stone Age. HINT: You may use the 5Ws 1H (What, When, Where, Why, Who and How) principle.
- Learners create a chart that describes the characteristics of Ghana's Middle Stone Age.
- Using primary and secondary sources, learners analyse the features of Ghana's Late Stone Age.
Experiential Learning: Learners embark on field trips or virtual field trips to museums to gather 'first-hand' information on Ghana's Stone Age.
Project-Based Learning:
- Working collaboratively, learners develop posters to describe characteristics of earliest farmer-settlers or community builders in Ghana.
- Learners trace on a map, some pre-historic sites discovered by archaeologists in Ghana including the Boyase Hill, Nkukoa Buoho, Hani, Gambaga, Abetifi, Banda, Kintampo, Begho, etc.
Teaching and Learning Resources:
- Primary and secondary source data including photographs, archaeological finds, cave art and paintings, etc.
- Resource person
- Virtual field trips on the Kintampo ancient site and museums
- Internet access
- Computers/ laptops, LCD projector/screen, video/ audio player
Assessment (1.2.1.AS.2). The document marks these depth-of-knowledge levels for this indicator: Level 2 Skills of conceptual understanding; Level 3 Strategic reasoning.