Performance Outcome: Explains a local, regional, and/or global issue; poses a specific researchable question on the issue that requires social science investigation; and explains its significance to global community.
In my freshman Geography class, we were tasked with creating a highway throughout Africa that would promote tourism, encourage economic development and trade among countries, and stimulate economic development. First we were given a failed route, which cut out a lot of resources in the west coast, passed through the Sahara desert which is not a popular place where people live, and ended in a mountain range. I went through multiple countries without stopping at the capitol which makes the cost higher, went through several areas with disease outbreaks and conflict. As a group, we decided that our route would work around the dessert and stop in capitol cities of the countries it goes through.
In my freshman Geography class, we were tasked with creating a highway throughout Africa that would promote tourism, encourage economic development and trade among countries, and stimulate economic development. First we were given a failed route, which cut out a lot of resources in the west coast, passed through the Sahara desert which is not a popular place where people live, and ended in a mountain range. I went through multiple countries without stopping at the capitol which makes the cost higher, went through several areas with disease outbreaks and conflict. As a group, we decided that our route would work around the dessert and stop in capitol cities of the countries it goes through.
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To build our knowledge of Africa, we completed 7 different types of maps to be able to plan our highway route. I researched the political, climate, vegetation, economic land use, energy resources and metals, population, and conflict zones. When making our highway we wanted to avoid conflict zones and disease outbreaks as much as possible. Our highway worked around stopping in Morocco, Liberia, Cote d'Ivoire, and Nigeria. We stopped in almost every other country, not experiencing conflict, on the Atlantic coast and in Northern Africa. Another consideration we took into making out highway was tourism and business opportunities. We wanted to make sure our highway was stopping in places people would want to go. For example, we stopped in Zambia because they are a part of the top ten lists for most attractive places for tourists. Lastly, we regarded the cost of our highway based on the physical features and not destroying the forest. Most of our highway goes through the Savanna because it is the least expensive. Our highway stops in Senegal, Guinea, Tanzania, an Zambia. We tried to avoid going through rainforests as much as possible due to deforestation.
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The total cost of our highway was 22,255,250,000 USD. The biggest cost for our route was when the highway passed through the rainforest. We saved money by going through the Savanna because it was the easiest and cheapest.
This project helped me understand Africa better because researching so many countries isn't something I would normally do, but I really enjoyed it. I know now where many hazards, rivers and tourist spots are in Africa. I think that the most pressing issue that must be faced in Africa is it's citizens safety which involves the government. Africa can not work on it;s development until its people are safe which includes protecting people from disease forced labor and sex trafficking.