Roseberry Primary School Curriculum planning Lead Question: What s so amazing about America? National Curriculum driver: Geography Rationale statement: In this study about the amazing Americas, children will first find out about the continents of North and South America, and the countries that form them. They will then look in more detail at some of the contrasting areas of North America, finding out about the landscape, climate and locations in each area. At the end of the study, children will research a trip to an area of North America and create tour guides to share what they have found. By the end of the study, children will be able to: Explain that a continent is a large land mass. Explain that continents are groups of countries. Identify some countries in North America. Identify some countries in South America. Describe physical features of an area of North America. Describe the climate of an area of North America. Describe the human geography of an area of North America. Use an atlas to find the names of countries. Use an atlas to find names of cities. Identify key rivers in an area using an atlas. Identify higher ground in an area using an atlas. Identify similarities and differences between a place in North America and where they live Identify similarities and differences between the climate of a place in North America and where they live. Explain the difference between human geography and physical geography Skills: Presenting information Identifying countries, continents and cities on a map Comparing climates, physical and human geography Use maps, atlases, globes and computer mapping to locate countries and describe features studied Map knowledge: Locate the world s countries, focus on North & South America End point: to work in a travel agent and persuade visitors to visit their researched area using a PowerPoint as a basis
Question 1: Where are the Amazing Americas? National curriculum focus: To use maps, atlases, globes and digital/computer mapping to locate countries and describe features studied in the context of North and South America. Activities Complete circle map about geography of Americas Discussion What Do You Know about the Amazing Americas? (Place names, holiday destinations, flags, anthems, presidents, etc.) Share some of pupils ideas draw out from these that North and South America are more than just the USA. Each is a continent; a continent is large landmass, usually made up of many countries Map work Use a combination of Google Earth and maps North America: Share the map. Can you see the country boundaries? How many countries do you think there are in North America? (There are 23 countries which make up North America.) South America: Using an atlas, can you name the countries shown on the map? (Peru, Suriname, Brazil and the Falkland Islands.) What do you notice about the Falkland Islands? (They are a dependent of the UK.) There are three dependent territories in South America, can you find two more? Compare the land mass of North and South America to the United Kingdom What do children notice? Children use Google Earth and Maps to identify key countries from North and South America. Complete a 50 states of America quiz online: http://www.sporcle.com/g00/games/g/states Question 2: How are North and South America different from the UK? National curriculum focus: To understand geographical similarities and differences through the study of human and physical geography of a region of the United Kingdom, a region in a European country, and a region within North or South America in the context of comparing landscapes. Activities What Do You Think It Looks Like? Ask children to draw what they think a place in North America might look like, and then a place in South America. Allow time for children to share their drawings with
a partner and with the rest of the class. Lines of Latitude: Share the map of North and South America. Which lines of latitude do these continents cross? (From 80 N to 50 S.) Will all of the places in each land mass look the same? (No.) Point out the position of the equator and the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. What do you know about these areas? (Many different landscapes make up the tropics - tropical rainforests, tropical coniferous forests, tropical dry forests and tropical grasslands.) Point out the Arctic Circle (the area above 66 N). What do you know about this area? (Not heavily populated, daylight hours vary from 0 hours in winter to 24 hours in summer.) Alaska: Using this website model completing the Regions of North America Modelling Sheet with details about Alaska. Focus children s attention on the physical aspects of the area mountains, rivers, lakes, glaciers, etc. How is Alaska similar to where we live? How is it different? Regions of North America: Children use the Regions of North America Activity Sheet to research a given area of North America, finding out about key aspects of physical geography. LA: Children research the landscape and physical features of the Caribbean. MA: Children research the landscape and physical features of Death Valley. HA: Children research the landscape and physical features of The Everglades. Making Comparisons: Arrange children into pairs so that each has researched a different location. Ask them to share their two comparative statements. How is the area similar/different. Q3: How is the climate different in North America to the UK? National curriculum coverage: To understand geographical similarities and differences through the study of human and physical geography of a region of the United Kingdom, a region in a European country, and a region within North or South America in the context of comparing climates. Activities: Weather or Climate? What is the difference between weather and climate? Discuss the children s ideas, drawing out that climate is the usual or average weather conditions over a long period of time, whereas weather is the specific meteorological conditions on a given day. Whole class activity Lines of Latitude: Remind the children of the map of North and South America from last lesson. Which lines of latitude do these continents cross? (From 80 N to 50 S.) Will the climate be the same across North and
South America? (No.) Point out the position of the equator and the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. What do you know about the climate in these areas? (Little variation in weather; usually hot; can be humid with very wet rainy seasons.) Point out the Arctic Circle (the area above 66 N). What do you know about the climate in this area? (Mild summers, can be very cold during winter, daylight hours vary from 0 hours in winter to 24 hours in summer which affects average temperatures.) Alaska: Using the Weather Base website, complete the Climates of North America Modelling Sheet with details about the climate and weather in Anchorage, Alaska, USA. Focus children s attention on the Climate Summary section which contains summary information of the monthly averages. How is Alaska similar to where we live? How is it different? Use Google Earth to visit Alaska and discuss the climate. Independent activity: Climates of North America: Children use the differentiated Climates of North America Activity Sheets and the Weather Base website to research a given area of North America, finding out about temperature and rainfall. www.weatherbase.com LA: Caribbean (Tulls in Trinidad) research the climate MA: Death Valley HA: The Everglades, Florida Plenary: Children share feedback and answer the following: How is the area similar/different to where we live? Where would you prefer to live based on what you have found out so far? Q4: How do America s towns compare to ours? National curriculum coverage: To understand geographical similarities and differences through the study of human and physical geography of a region of the United Kingdom, a region in a European country, and a region within North or South America in the context of comparing towns. Whole class activity: What are Physical and Human Geography? What is physical geography? Discuss the children s ideas, drawing out that it is anything in an area that is naturally occurring such as oceans, lakes, mountains, rivers, coastlines, and weather and climate patterns. What is human geography? Discuss the children s ideas, drawing out that it is anything in an area that is not naturally occurring country/region boundaries, buildings, roads, and changes to river courses. It also includes cultural aspects of an area such as language, religion, government, art and music.
The Human Geography of our Area: What do we know already? Fill in the information children offer using the Human Geography of Our Area Modelling Sheet. How could we find out more? (Books, census data, internet, ask people, etc.) The Human Geography of Alaska: Using Google Maps and Kidz Search, model completing the Places in North America Modelling Sheet with details about the human geography of Anchorage, Alaska, USA. How is Alaska similar to where we live? How is it different? Independent activity: Children use ipads to research their given area of America including Alaska, the Caribbean and Death Valley in California Q5/Q6: Can I visit North America? National curriculum coverage: To understand geographical similarities and differences through the study of human and physical geography of a region of the United Kingdom, a region in a European country, and a region within North or South America in the context of planning a trip to North America. Discuss a variety of trips children have taken and the various modes of transport they might use. Explain that in the next two weeks each pair is going to plan a trip to somewhere they have been studying. In today s lesson, children will plan a trip to their selected area after modeling based on Alaska. Children use the foreign office website to check about their journey before they travel. End point: Use presentation software such as PowerPoint to create presentations for potential travellers undertaking each trip. Encourage children to think about the information on each slide but also the information they will add to each slide while they are talking through their presentation. Present the potential trip to people visiting the Travel agency.
Links to other subjects: English Maths Computing Art As writers we will: produce an information PowerPoint detailing what a trip would be like to their focused area. As readers we will: read for information about a chosen location in North or South America As speakers we will: present what we have learned to customers in order to persuade them to visit our chosen area As mathematicians we will: Budget for a trip using various travel websites Use the terminology of degrees to describe positions of longitude and latitude As computer users we will: Use Google Earth to explore selected regions of North and South America Put information into a spread sheet to total up costs of a trip Use PowerPoint to prepare a short presentation to encourage visitors to North/South America As artists we will: Complete a unit of work on the art of Central and South America including use of clay, murals, dream catchers, picture puzzles, making traditional south American drums and tropical collage PSHE Curriculum drivers: World of Work Flight attendant My Place in the World Where we are in relation to North and South America How far it takes to travel to either. How much bigger the Americas are than England Live Well, Live Long Typical food in the area (healthy) Safety Net Safe searching online using child friendly key word searches Choosing appropriate sources of information online Reputable companies