United Kingdom Year 5 Geography

This course introduces students to a wider range of geographical concepts and skills, building upon their prior knowledge. It emphasizes developing locational awareness and understanding the interactions between human and physical processes shaping the world. Students explore diverse places, people, resources, and environments, focusing on the United Kingdom, Europe, and North/South America. Fieldwork plays a crucial role in applying these skills and understanding real-world geographical contexts.

Key Topics

• Locational Knowledge: Students learn to locate countries worldwide, focusing on Europe (including Russia) and North/South America, identifying their environmental regions, physical and human characteristics, and major cities. Within the UK, they study counties, cities, geographical regions, and topographical features like hills, mountains, coasts, and rivers, understanding how these aspects have changed over time. They also learn about latitude, longitude, the Equator, hemispheres, Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, Arctic and Antarctic Circles, the Prime/Greenwich Meridian, and time zones.
• Place Knowledge: This involves understanding the geographical similarities and differences between regions within the UK, a European country, and North or South America, through studying both human and physical geography.
• Human and Physical Geography: Students explore key aspects of physical geography, including climate zones, biomes, vegetation belts, rivers, mountains, volcanoes, earthquakes, and the water cycle. They also delve into human geography, examining settlement types, land use, economic activity (including trade links), and the distribution of natural resources like energy, food, minerals, and water.
• Geographical Skills and Fieldwork: Students use maps, atlases, globes, and digital/computer mapping to locate countries and describe features. They learn to use compass directions, grid references, symbols, and keys (including Ordnance Survey maps). Fieldwork is essential, allowing students to observe, measure, record, and present human and physical features in their local area using various methods, including sketch maps, plans, graphs, and digital technologies.

Specific examples of topics covered include:

• Maps: Exploring different types of maps and their key features.
• Eastern Europe: Studying the countries and places within Eastern Europe.
• Sustainability: Considering the needs of settlements and the planet as a whole.
• Mountains: Learning about major mountain ranges worldwide and within the UK.
• Rivers and the Water Cycle: Developing a secure understanding of these crucial natural systems.
• Regional Studies: Deepening knowledge of UK geography through studying specific regions like East Anglia, the Midlands, Yorkshire, and Humberside, as well as Australia, New Zealand, and the South Pacific Islands.