Growing out of the belief that children need to acquire tools that will help them understand and interact with people from different cultures, a study examined the effect of a global education unit about Africa on the images of Africa held by sixth grade students, specifically investigating whether such instruction would reduce existing stereotypes and enhance children's general knowledge of Africa. Subjects were 51 fifth- and sixth-grade students at two elementary schools in southern California. A pretest, two cultural assignments, and a posttest were administered to the test and control groups over a 4.5 month period. The test classroom received a cultural unit on Africa at the beginning of the research study. Results showed that students' perceptions of Africa became less stereotypical, more diverse, and more positive, partially as a result of the cultural unit on Africa. Results also showed that cultural assignments illustrated a gradual change in children's images of Africa formed over the same period. (Two figures and three tables of data are included; 35 references are attached.) (SR)