Year 5

Autumn: Mapping the World – longitude and Latitude

North America region – Texas

Continuing to deepen their knowledge and understanding of our world, the pupils will be investigating why and how is our Earth mapped. After having gained insight into the link between climate zones and lines of latitude, the children will be practising their map skills using atlases and maps to locate countries and basic coordinates. Building upon their knowledge of Continents and Oceans from Year 2, the pupils will then move onto the study of a region in North America: Texas. They will be able to revisit their learning of Biomes from Year 4 through careful investigation of Texas’ biomes and will be making comparisons to their own locality and its human and physical features.

This unit serves as a consolidation of some of the key geographical concepts that the pupils learn in KS1 and LKS2 and at the same time allows the children to begin gaining understanding into how are continents and countries connected, which they will develop in Year 6 when looking at Trade links and Settlements and Migration.

Spring: UK Knowledge: Wales and Map Skills: Llandudno

This unit of work builds on the pupils’ previous knowledge from KS1 of UK’s four countries and the Seaside unit in Year 1 by extending further their knowledge of coastlines and how are coastlines formed. Continuing their learning of the UK’s locational knowledge from Year 3 (Scotland) and Year 4 (England), they will research in more depth Wales. This will allow them to prepare for their residential trip to Llandudno as a seaside resort and coastal town and while there, using fieldwork and map skills to make sketches, create maps and recognise human and physical features as identified on OS maps. In use will be put the pupils’ previously obtained skills and knowledge of land use patterns from Year.

This unit will also serve well as a comparison to previously studied region in North America (Texas) in Autumn in relations to habitats and biomes.

By learning about the human and physical features of Wales and what makes it special, the pupils will get a deeper understanding of some of the historical changes linked to the country and its industry and research of the Dinorwig power station provides a link to environmental science and natural resources unit in Year 6. Finally, a year later, the children will conclude their learning of the 4 countries of the UK by learning about Northern Ireland.

Summer: Water Cycle and Rivers

In this unit, the pupils will build on their previous study of Water cycle in Year 4 Science Unit States of Matter by understanding all the processes involved in the way water circulates on our planet and further linking their experiences to this. They will also be introduced to the idea that water is a key natural resource and will understand its importance in our lives, which will prepare them for Year 6 Unit Trade Links and Natural Resources and later on, Migration. They will be able to describe some global initiatives to improve living conditions and supply of water.

Using all their acquired knowledge from UK Knowledge Units (Y3 Scotland, Y4 England, Y5 Wales), the pupils will be extending their knowledge of rivers by locating the world’s longest rivers on a map. They will discuss the importance of rivers in people’s lives and compare that to historical significance, building on their study of Ancient Egyptians in Year 4 and local history unit Crossing the Mersey in Year 5. Learning to identify features of a river and how it shapes the land, they will build a good foundation for further study of the Amazon Rainforest in Year 6 and the Amazon river.