A Long Walk to Water Building Background Knowledge | S.Sudan Geography & Mapping

A Long Walk to Water Building Background Knowledge | South Sudan Geography & Mapping

Build the essential geographic background students need before or while reading A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park! This no-prep Building Background Knowledge lesson helps students understand where South Sudan is, what the surrounding region is like, and just how significant the distances traveled on foot can be.

Students research South Sudan’s location, neighboring countries, physical geography, terrain, water sources, and distances before applying what they learn in a Journey Mapping Challenge. The lesson moves beyond simply locating places on a map by asking students to consider how distance, terrain, borders, and access to water can shape a journey and affect survival.

What Students Will Do
- Locate South Sudan within Africa and identify surrounding countries
- Explore physical geography, terrain, climate, and important water sources
- Research key locations and approximate travel distances
- Analyze how geography affects a journey made on foot
- Put large distances into perspective using familiar real-world comparisons
- Plan locations, routes, physical features, symbols, and distances for a map
- Complete a Journey Mapping Challenge using an unlabeled map
- Make connections between geography and the experiences of Salva Dut and other refugees

Included in This Resource
- Teacher Directions
- Student Overview
- Mini Research Questions
- Group Activity: Journey Mapping Challenge
- Geography & Travel Analysis
- Distance & Journey Analysis
- Journey Map Planning
- Full-page final mapping activity
- Color and printer-friendly black-and-white student pages
- Free online research resources

Perfect For
Grades 6–8
A Long Walk to Water novel studies • Building Background Knowledge • Geography Connections • Historical Fiction Units • Refugee Studies • Social Studies Integration • ELA & Humanities • Collaborative Learning • Sub Plans

Why Teachers Will Love It
This lesson gives students meaningful context before expecting them to fully understand the journey in the novel. The research, analysis, planning, and final mapping task work together as one cohesive investigation rather than a collection of disconnected worksheets.
Designed for approximately 1–2 class periods of 45–60 minutes each, with opportunities to extend the research or mapping activity as needed.
No prep—print or share, provide access to the included free research resources, and students are ready to investigate!