You live in Botswana and plan to build a house for your family.  What materials might you use to build your house?

Handout

Link to 'Building a house in Botswana' pdf

How this fits

This scenario encourages pupils to compare living standards in Botswana with living standards in the UK.  Pupils are required to think about where resources come from.

Curriculum links

Geography:

1.7a Appreciating the differences and similarities between people, places, environments and cultures to inform their understanding of societies and economies.

2.1g Solve problems and make decisions to develop analytical skills and creative thinking about geographical issues.

Where to go

Food & Daily life; Living standards.

What to watch

The Kgotla; My home.

Follow-up questions

1. How might the materials used to build a house in the UK differ from those used in Botswana?
2. What determines the materials someone uses to build their home?
3. What advantages do you think there are to building a house in the UK compared with Botswana?  What about the advantages of building a house in Botswana compared with the UK?

Tags: development; resources

About scenarios:

Scenarios are teaching resources designed for use in the classroom or as homework. They are linked to the National Curriculum and content on the Our Africa website. See about scenarios for more information on the topics used and their position in the curriculum.