David Livingstone (clip 1)
Life of the famous Victorian explorer
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Description
An account of the life of David Livingstone (1813 – 1873). This Docu-drama depicts the life of the famous Victorian explorer and missionary including a dramatised account of his expedition through Africa where he encounters various African settlers. Shots include African native people dancing, a dramatisation of his missionary work, an exploration team walking beside a wagon through the Kalahari Desert, vultures feeding on dead animals, and shots of slaves, snakes, lions, crocodiles as well as the exploration team hacking through the forest.
Questions & Activities
Questions
- What is a missionary?
- Who was David Livingstone and what was he famous for?
- Why is the Kalhari Desert dreadful?
- Why did people call Africa "the Dark Continent"?
- What was the slave trade?
- How is malaria spread?
- What kinds of wildlife did Livingstone encounter?
- Why were the tribes savage?
- What role did the church have in abolishing the slave trade?
- What beliefs did the natives have before Christianity?
Activities
Geography: Find out where Kuruman is. Look at it on Google Earth.
English: Write a story from the perspective of one of the African natives about Livingstone's arrival.
Social History / RME: Compare David Livingstone to Mary Slessor (She Blazed a Trail). Research the differences and similarities in their work. Create a short powerpoint presentation/film or presentation incorporating clips from both films.
Social History / Economics / Geography: Research Glasgow's place in the slave trade. How long did it continue? Find out what the slaves were traded for? What famous Glaswegian were involved? Develop a presentation to your class including appropriate images.
RME / Geography / History / Victorians: Slavery was official abolished in 1833 but still carries on. Research modern examples and present your findings.
Debate: This house believes that Glasgow's wealth was founded on the slave trade. Should we now make amends?
English: Imagine you were David Livingstone setting off on your expedition. Write a diary entry for how you felt about the expedition and what you encountered.
Religious Education: Find out about missionaries today.
History: Research Scot's of the Victorian period - who were they and what did they do.
Health and Wellbeing / Science / Biology: Research malaria and find out how it is spread and how it is prevented.
Clip Details
| Record Id | 007-000-002-033-C |
|---|---|
| Resource Rights Holder | National Library of Scotland |
| Project Ref | 0192 |
| Date | 1956 |
| Genre | Drama Documentary |
| School Subject | History, Economic History, Modern Studies, Geography, Health and Wellbeing, Religious and Moral Education, International Studies |
| Subject Matter | Victorians |
| Who | David Middlemas (director), G-B Instructional Ltd (distributor, sponsor), Rev James McNair BD, Chairman of the Livingstone Memorial, Blantyre, Lanarkshire and CM Green MA (supervisors), The J Arthur Rank Organisation Limited (production company) |
| Where | Africa, Kuruman, Kalahari Desert, Port Elizabeth, Zambezi, Linyanti, Blantyre |
| Event | Exploration |
| Attributes | Black and White, Sound |
| Clip Length | 7:17 |
| Film Length | 16:00 |
| References | Education Scotland - Scotland's History - David Livingstone |