Year 4
Autumn: Geography of the Mediterranean
This unit of work continues to develop the pupils’ knowledge of Europe and some of its geographical areas and features using atlases, maps and research.
Building on their study of the Romans in Year 3 History, the pupils will develop their understanding of the Mediterranean sea’s significance and characteristics, allowing them to build solid foundations for their Spring topic Map Skills: World Countries and Capitals. Through the study geographical features of the Mediterranean region, the children will naturally progress onto the study of Biomes and Climate Zones in their summer topic.
Through the study of a small area of the Peloponnese Peninsula, the children can discover both the physical and human characteristics of Greece and make links between their experiences and the new knowledge. In Spring term during their study of UK Knowledge – England, they will make comparisons between the Peloponnese and East England regions.
In Year 6, they will be continuing to deepen their knowledge of the area through the study of migration and the role the Mediterranean Sea played and still plays in it.
Spring: Map Skills: World Countries and Capitals
In this sequence of lessons, the children will be extending their knowledge of maps and places through learning about world countries and capitals. At the same time, they will be introduced to some of the complexities of human geography with opportunities to make meaningful comparisons and to reveal hidden patterns.
Having previously explored the UK’s place in Europe and its neighbouring countries in Year 3 in both Geography and History, the children will embark on an explorative journey of the world, discussing the concepts of countries and regions. They will learn what bounds a country together and learn to recognise symbols which mark a country’s identity.
This unit will allow the children to frequently use the world map, which will allow for a smooth transition into their study of biomes and climate zones later in Year 4. At the end, the pupils will learn about different ways countries work together in political associations and some of the associations the UK is a part of. Finding out how nations can cooperate with each other will raise questions about underlying values and the children can recognise and discuss how the British Values fit into the beliefs and principles of The EU, Commonwealth and UN. Moreover, their understanding of the ways these alliances can combat some global environmental and security issues prepares the children to take their place in the world as global citizens.
UK Knowledge - England
Building on their knowledge of the UK as part of Europe from Year 3, the pupils will continue their studying of the 4 countries of UK. Having learned about Scotland in Year 3, the pupils will be guided to build their knowledge of England’s key topographical features and land use patterns.
Through the study of the human and physical features of the country they live in, they will be able to make an effective comparison between the previously studied region of Peloponnese and the region of East England and its counties. The focus on East England is not incidental; it draws on the children’s previous experience with it when learning about the Romans in Year 3 and Boudicca, and it will give them a chance to observe how the region changed over time by learning about the Anglo-Saxons’ invasions in History in the second half of the Spring term.
The pupils’ learning will be continued in Year 5 by studying Wales.
Summer: Biomes and Climate Zones
Continuing the study of different habitats from Year 2, the pupils will further develop their understanding of what biomes are and what makes them the unique and protection-worth part of our world. They will also start to recognise how are biomes, climate zones and vegetation belts linked and the changes these face due to the climate change and human activity; this will be built upon in Environmental Science unit in Summer 2 – Destructions of Habitats.
By an in-depth study and research of each of the biomes, the children will be able to identify some of the similarities and differences of the same biome in different location (steppes, prairies and savannahs) while revisiting the Map Skills unit of World Countries and Capitals and having and opportunity to develop their locational knowledge of the world.
By the end of the unit, the pupils will be able to explain what a biome is and name some examples, including the fauna and flora specific to these. They will know that biomes cover very large areas and are the results of different climate conditions. This will provide a solid foundation for Year 5 Mapping the World unit and the link to the lines of latitude and further on, in Year 6, the pupils will have an opportunity to study in depth the Amazon rainforest and some of the global issues linked with it.