The Geography ABC’s series is a unique and fun way to supplement your world geography curriculum. This series offers thirty-two countries and two different lesson plans. Each country has the alphabet listed with a fact that pertains to just that country. Geography ABC’s can easily be adapted to any grade level and incorporated into any standing curriculum. A complete list of countries, lesson plans, and links to the Geography ABC's series is at the bottom of the article.
South Africa
Goeie muddag! Good afternoon!
A is for art, the oldest (75,000 years ago) art objects in the world were discovered in a South African cave.
B is for blue crane, the national bird.
C is for capitals. South Africa has three capital cities, Pretoria, Cape Town and Bloemfontein.
D is for dancing a major part of all the different tribal cultures.
E is for elephant. South Africa is home to the largest elephant herds.
F is for the flag which has six colors, green, gold, black, blue, red and white.
G is for Great ‘Karoo’, goes years without rain and is the home to the curly-horned wildebeest.
H is for halfmens, a plant that grows extremely slowly and is very rare.
I is for Impundulu (lightening bird), a mythological creature in folklore that takes the form of a black and white bird the size of a human and is said to have lightning from it talons.
J is for jazz music is the most common music through out South Africa.
K is for Kruger Park the largest nature reserve in South Africa.
L is for languages. South Africa has 11 different official languages.
M is for mines. 1/3 of the worlds gold and ¾ of the worlds platinum come from South Africa.
N is for Namaqualand flowers bright, colorful flowers that bloom each spring in the Namaqualand desert.
O is for ostrich farms which are common, the birds are raised for their feathers, meat and skins. Also, ostrich racing is a favorite past time.
P is for the Pondo People who live in the providence of Pondoland and are famous for their beadwork.
Q is for quick fact - South Africa is home to the world’s largest man-made hole
R is for Real Yellowwood, the national tree.
S is for smoked snook a favorite South Africa dish.
T is for transplant, the world’s first heart transplant on December 3, 1967 in Cape Town.
U is for the Umtamvuna River, contains more kinds of rare reptiles and small mammals than anywhere else in Southern Africa.
V is for Voortrekkers, the Afrikaans and Dutch pioneers that settled the interior of South Africa.
W is for the white rhino.
X marks the spot.
Y is for young Xhosa men who paint their faces white a year to mark entry into adulthood.
Z is for Zulu, largest South African ethnic group.
Article Index for Geography ABC’s: Argentina, *Australia, Brazil, *Canada, *China, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Egypt, *France, *Germany, *Great Britain, *Greece,,*Greenland, India, *Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kenya, *Mexico, Peru, *Russia, South Africa, Spain, *Sweden, Thailand, *The Congo, *Turkey*United States
Lesson Plan for 5th through 8th grade using the Geography ABC’s
* Denotes countries not yet posted in the series.