Year 3
Geography in The Avengers
Explore, Enquire, Empathise and Empower!
Autumn Term 2018
Our enquiry
Why do some earthquakes cause more damage than others?
What have we learnt so far?
We have worked through our forth ancillary question which was ‘Why don’t the largest earthquakes always cause the most death and destruction?’ The children have had the opportunity to understand through explanation and reaching conclusions why the most powerful earthquakes in the world do not necessarily cause the most deaths and destruction. They looked at Haiti and Chile. Even though the two countries experienced earthquakes of the same magnitude, the damage caused was different. The children looked at a range of sources and discussed the reasons why. They reached the conclusion that as Haiti is a much more poorer country than Chile, the devastation and destruction was far worse. This was due to many factors such as a poorer rescue care system, the houses being built much closer together and lack of earthquake proof buildings. This was shown through a comparison table and a poster.
Our fifth and final ancillary question was ‘Why do most volcanoes happen in the same places as earthquakes?’ The children have had the opportunity to identify, describe and explain the causes of volcanoes. The children compared the location of earthquakes and volcanoes in New Zealand on a variety of maps. The children also watched video clips about volcano formation and produced a storyboard to show the six stages in the formation of a volcano.
Look at some of our pictures on our class page.
What are we going to explore next?
We are in the process of presenting our final answer to our main enquiry; ‘Why do some earthquakes cause more damage than others?’
The children’s view
These quotes are responses from the children when asked ‘What have you enjoyed about our lessons during this topic?’
I have really enjoyed watching the video clips about how volcanoes are formed. They were so exciting!
I have enjoyed learning about earthquakes and volcanoes. I really liked looking at sources with my friends like pictures.
Summer Term 2018
In geography, year 3 have mainly focused on map skills; we have read and interpreted a range of maps, including globes and digimaps. The children understand how to use a key and four figure grid references.
More recently, we have been learning about different landscapes and discussed where we could find certain landscapes in the British Isles. We have also started investigating different types of settlement. The children have thought about the key factors a settlement needs in order to survive and have compared several different landscapes across the world, investigating how they could survive with different dilemmas.
Year 4
Geography in Hogwarts
2017/2018
What is a coast?
During our Year 4 Spring topic, we will be understanding what the seashore is like. We will look at five different types of coastlines and research and describe their features. We will also be understanding how the sea shapes the coast. We will research and name all eight seashore features. As well as this, we will be understanding how people look after the coast and in particular, look closely at the Jurassic Coastline.
What makes a settlement?
This topic specifically focussed on towns. At the beginning of the topic, we investigated the features of a town. We looked at an aerial photograph of a town and compared it to a map of the same town. After this, we researched how towns began. We also looked at five different types of towns – factory towns, market towns, ports, crossing points and seaside towns. Finally, we looked at how a town works, and which services keep it working. We then imagined we worked for the council and looked at a street map of our local area around school. We had to decide, and mark on the map, where a suitable place would be to put a new litter bin. We also had to give reasons for our choice.
Passport to Europe
At the beginning of this Year 4 Autumn topic, we looked at and discussed images of landscapes, landmarks and flags of countries in Europe. Next, we looked at the countries that made up the continent of Europe and identified them on a map. We then used the atlases to find a European country that we wanted to focus on for the rest of the topic. The most popular country to study was Germany. We identified how many continents there are and identified them on a world map in the atlas. We then used the internet and other sources to gain some background knowledge about Germany and identify Germany on a world map. We drew a map of Germany and included rivers, cities and mountains on it. At the end of our topic, we discussed the features of a report and created an information report about Germany.
Year 6
Geography in The BFG’s
Explore, Enquire, Empathise and Empower!
Autumn Term 2018
Our enquiry
How is Climate Change affecting people around the world?
What have we learnt so far?
Following on from last half term, we have continued to study how Climate Change is affecting other parts of the world. This has included, Britain, Greenland and Australia. We have also looked into why the weather is changing and debated if this is a good thing or not. We have also studied what the world is doing about Climate Change and whether it is enough or not. Finally we have created an informative poster that pulls all our learning together.
What do the children say about Geography?
‘I enjoy getting to know what is happening and what might happen in the future’ Lois
‘It’s important to learn about it so that we can make a difference’ Ashlee
‘I like to learn about the world and pinpoint where different countries are’ Emma
What will we explore next?
Our next enquiry is ‘What is a river?’ This will link to our Trout in the classroom project!
Take a look at our class page to see some photographs!
2017/2018
This year, so far, in Year 6 we have learnt about ‘Water’ this includes water conservation, where water comes from, which countries are still without free-flowing safe water. We have added to our class map, showing where in the world clean water is needed and we have labelled the oceans and seas around the world. We have also looked at renewable and non-renewable energy sources, holding debates and discussions.
We have moved on to look at work and travel and how the two depend on each other. Where we work often does affect how we travel and vice versa. We are looking at the differences between the city and countryside in India and how this compares to developed countries.