Year 1Geography- Around our School

This is a template for planning your unit with some suggested activities- please adapt for the needs of your class

For more ideas please seeWhat Your Year 1 Child Needs to Know

Lesson / Learning Objective / Core Knowledge / Activities for Learning / Related Vocabulary / Assessment Questions
Lesson One-
Introduction to maps / To begin to understand that maps show where things are from above / -Maps show where things are from above
-We call this aerial perspective / Show children images of buildings and landscapes from an aerial perspective.
Draw some classroom objects from an aerial perspective and ask children to identify the objects. Discuss how hard it can be to make the object look like it really looks, so we can label them, or draw a symbol. / above, below, aerial, view, perspective, label, identify, building / What does aerial mean?
Why do maps show us things from above?
What could we use maps for?
Lesson Two-
What makes a good map? / To understand what makes a good map / -A map can have a title, labels and will have places drawn on it from above / Look at some examples of maps and create a list of things they have in common e.g colour, lines, labels, a key, a title etc. Show children some bad examples of maps (sketched) and discuss why they are not good maps. / map, label, key, places, location / What would we need to label on a map?
What makes a good map?
Lesson Three-
Drawing maps of the classroom / To create a simple map / -A key explains the symbols that are used on a map / Draw a map of the classroom- children can be given pre-cut objects to place on their map if they need extra support.
Children can agree on symbols for different objects e.g tables and chairs in their classrooms. / symbol, represent, object / What is a symbol?
Why do we use symbols on maps?
Lesson Four-
Understanding direction / To understand direction / -We can give directions; forwards, backwards, left and right / If available, children can use roamers or beebots to explore direction. Children can design maps or pathways for their roamers, exploring left and right turns. Children can give each other directions to get from one place to another, blindfolded if they can do this safely. Children can also design treasure maps with instructions for how to locate the treasure. / direction, left, right, forwards, backwards, / Why are directions important?
When might we need to use directions?
Lesson Five-
Language to describe position / To use position words to describe location / -We can describe position using words such as next to, far from, under, on top of, behind and opposite / Teach necessary position vocabulary. With a partner, children can describe the location of an object in the classroom and their partner must find it. Children can describe the position of an object in pre-prepared cards.
Children can then go on to describe locations of things in their school e.g the hall is opposite the Year 4 classroom. / position, location, next to, opposite, near to, far away from / What position words can you think of?
Can you put a position word into a sentence?
Lesson Six-
Drawing maps of the school / To create a map / -A map gives us information about a place / Walk around the school building (s) and discuss where and what will need to be drawn on the map. Encourage use of specific vocabulary taught in previous lessons. Draw a map of the school and/or surrounding area. Use aerial views to support. / information, direction, location, compass / What information do we need on a map of our school?