Year 1: Geography
Where Am I?
This resource could be used to plan an individual Geography lesson or a unit of work
combining Geography, English, and Mathematics. The suggested activities can be
used in the order presented here, or they can be adapted for your teaching plan and
classroom.
CURRICULUM OBJECTIVES
VIDEO
Geography / Key Stage 1 / Geographical skills and fieldwork
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use world maps, atlases and globes to identify the United Kingdom and its countries, as well as the countries, continents and oceans
studied at this key stage
use simple compass directions (North, South, East and West) and locational and directional language [for example, near and far; left and
right], to describe the location of features and routes on a map
use aerial photographs and plan perspectives to recognise landmarks and basic human and physical features; devise a simple map; and
use and construct basic symbols in a key
use simple fieldwork and observational skills to study the geography of their school and its grounds and the key human and physical
features of its surrounding environment.
CURRICULUM CODES IN THIS TEACHER PACK
Geography / Key Stage 1 / Place knowledge
Geography / Key Stage 1 / Geographical skills and fieldwork
Geography / Key Stage 1 / Locational knowledge
Geography / Key Stage 1 / Human and physical geography
English / Key Stage 1 / Listening
English / Year 1 / Reading - comprehension
Mathematics / Year 1 / Number – number and place value
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ACTIVITY
RESOURCES
OBJECTIVE
Activity 1: Globetrotters
Passport
Worksheet
Geography / Key
Stage 1 / Place
knowledge
Timeframe: 40 minutes (plus additional time allocated for extension activity)
Globe
Present a globe to the students in your class and choose a student to pinpoint where to find the
United Kingdom. Choose another student and ask them to spin the globe and point to any country
that they can spot before them. Share the name of that country with the class and ask students if
any of them have visited that country before, and if they know anything about it.
On your whiteboard, rule two columns. Title one column, ‘Countries We Have Been To’, and the
other ‘Countries We Have Not Been To’ and fill each column in accordingly. You may want each
student to have a go at spinning the globe, or restrict it to around ten students.
Look at each column and identify any differences in number. If most countries listed are countries
that students have not visited, ask students why this might be the case. Draw conclusions about
the number of countries in the world and the size of our planet live in (there are many countries
and the world is BIG!)
Discuss the process of travelling overseas. What method of transport do you use? Where do you
go to find one of these? What do you need to take with you before you travel (e.g. a passport, a
visa, a suitcase of clothing)?
Extension
Show students an image of the identification page of a passport (you could even bring your own
in to show your class!). Using the Passport Worksheet, encourage students fill in the missing
details. Enter the present date in the Date of Issue field. Students may then draw a picture of
themselves for their portrait.
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ACTIVITY
RESOURCES
OBJECTIVE
Activity 2: My Way to School
My Way to School
Worksheet
Geography / Key
Stage 1 /
Geographical skills
and fieldwork
Timeframe: 1 hour
Ask students to list some of the things they notice on their way to school. Ask students to choose
three of these things and sequence them in the order that they see them. Revise ordinal numbers
up to 5 and ask students to share what the first, second, and third landmark they drew were.
Ask students to share how they travel to school. List these methods of transportation on the board
and ask students to add, to their picture, the way in which they get to school. Beside this image,
they should list two other examples of how their peers travel to school.
Mathematics / Year
1 / Number –
number and place
value
Extension
Ask students to, with the help of their parents, time how long it takes them to get to school the
following day. Rank these times to see whose journey takes the shortest and longest amount of
time.
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ACTIVITY
RESOURCES
OBJECTIVE
Activity 3: Continents
Map of continents
Timeframe: 1 hour
World map
(optional)
Geography / Key
Stage 1 / Locational
knowledge
Point to each of the continents on the suggested map and ask students if they are able to identify
them. You might want to identify each continent by its colour to assist in the encouragement of
recall.
English / Year 1 /
Reading comprehension
Find multiple forms of media (photographs, videos, picture books, etc.) that provide information on
each continent (e.g. a photograph of a family in Europe, a picture book about a child in Africa, a
song about an Australian town). Divide students into groups of three or four and ask them to collect
a couple of facts about the continent they are assigned using these resources.
Encourage students to write the fact that they have learnt as a sentence. You could add these
sentences to a world map that you have pinned to your wall.
To consolidate the learning of the names of the continents, point to each continent again on the
suggested map and evaluate if students are able to recall their names more confidently.
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ACTIVITY
RESOURCES
Activity 4: Cardinal Directions
OBJECTIVE
Geography / Key
Stage 1 /
Geographical skills
and fieldwork
Timeframe: 30 minutes
Take your students out into an open area in your school’s playground. Point out the directions of
North, East, South and West and relate them to landmarks around the playground that the
students can see (e.g. ‘North’ is the school canteen, ‘South’ is the oval). Go through each direction
several times to reinforce the direction and the landmark to which it is related.
English / Key Stage
1 / Listening
Once students are familiar with these associations, you can initiate a game of “Captain’s Coming”
using cardinal directions instead of ship directions. Ask students to turn their bodies toward the
appropriate landmark. Continue to shout out directions to assess whether students have
understood this concept.
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ACTIVITY
RESOURCES
OBJECTIVE
Activity 5: Unlocking Maps with Keys
Unlocking Maps with
Keys – Map
Geography / Key
Stage 1 /
Geographical skills
and fieldwork
Timeframe: 1 hour
Post-it notes
Issue a copy of the map presented in the Where Am I? Miniclip to each student. Ask students to
identify the following features: trees, mountains, cities, houses, farms, roads, paths. Ask
students to explain how they were able to identify these features and discuss the use of
symbols in maps.
Geography / Key
Stage 1 / Human and
physical geography
Discuss the purpose of a “key” or “legend” in a map and ask students to draw a key for their
map. You might want them to do to this on a post-it note, so that students can easily attach it to
their map.
Extension
Students can create their own map based on the key they created earlier in this activity.
© ClickView Pty Limited 2015. You may print one copy of this page for your reference. Further copying or printing must be reported to CAL as per the Copyright Act 1968.
ACTIVITY
RESOURCES
OBJECTIVE
Activity 6: Maps and Globes
Globe
Timeframe: 1 hour
City map
Geography / Key
Stage 1 /
Geographical skills
and fieldwork
Present students with a city map and a globe. You might want to pass these around the class.
After students have had sufficient time to examine both map and globe, ask them to
brainstorm the similarities (e.g. presence of a key, a grid) and differences (e.g. level of detail,
the area that is covered, one is flat and one is curved) between these objects.
Geography / Key
Stage 1 / Human and
physical geography
Ask students to determine when it would be most appropriate to use a map, and when it would
be best to use a globe. Present students with different scenarios to prompt such discussion.
For example:
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What would you use if you wanted to know which countries were closest to the United
Kingdom?
What would you use if you wanted to find the location of your friend’s house?
Ask students to explain their answer.
You might want to then show students how to look up their local community on Google Maps
by first starting with the world map and successively zooming into the country, town, and street
on which your school can be found. This will reinforce the idea that maps generally cover a
small area of the world with a greater amount of detail.
© ClickView Pty Limited 2015. You may print one copy of this page for your reference. Further copying or printing must be reported to CAL as per the Copyright Act 1968.