Imagine a community in Cameroon, along the west cost of Africa. The weather is hot and dry. Traditional homes are made of sun-dried mud bricks. Create a replica village!

• 1.

  Cameroon is very near the equator, so it is hot most of the time and receives very little rain. Find this country on a map of Africa. The people of Cameroon have traditionally built their houses with sun-dried mud bricks. Learn more about the sizes and shapes of these homes. How are the bricks made? Discover other information about Cameroon's culture and history, too.

• 2.

  Using Crayola® Model Magic®, build a replica of a mud house in Cameroon. To create brown mud colors, blend Model Magic with color from Crayola Washable Markers. Knead the modeling compound, adding more marker color, until you achieve the shade desired.

• 3.

  For the door, use black Model Magic or color white Model Magic with markers. Air dry overnight.

Standards

• LA: Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
• LA: Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in a text, including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic.
• LA: Integrate information from several texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably.
• LA: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.
• LA: Report on a topic or text or present an opinion, sequencing ideas logically and using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas or themes; speak clearly at an understandable pace.
• SCI: Ask questions about the natural and human-built worlds.
• SCI: Construct drawings or diagrams as representations of events or systems.
• SS: Compare ways in which people from different cultures think about and deal with their physical environment and social conditions.
• SS: Describe how people create places that reflect ideas, personality, culture, and wants and needs as they design homes, playgrounds, classrooms, and the like.
• VA: Use different media, techniques, and processes to communicate ideas, experiences, and stories.
• VA: Select and use subject matter, symbols, and ideas to communicate meaning.
• VA: Demonstrate how history, culture, and the visual arts can influence each other in making and studying works of art.

Adaptations

• Teacher resources: Sense Pass King: A Story from Cameroon by Katrin Tchana; Riddles, Folktales, and Proverbs from Cameroon by Comfort Ashu
• Students research how the people of Cameroon dress and what types of food they typically eat. Students use recycled materials to create and dress up in original costumes from Cameroon. While dressed in the costumes, students will report on typical meals from Cameroon. Student presentations can be videotaped and uploaded to a classroom computer for future viewing.
• Students investigate Cameroon You Day which is celebrated on February 11th. Students compose an investigative report about this holiday that can be videotaped and uploaded to a classroom computer.
• Cameroon is located close to the equator. Students investigate other types of housing built by people who live in warm climates. Using Crayola Model Magic, students create a typical model of the housing type and prepare a one-paragraph summary describing the look of the structure and materials used to create it. These can be displayed in the classroom.