Year 6
Autumn - Trade links and Natural Resources
This explorative unit of work introduces the students to natural resources by highlighting minerals and energy, food and water. In order to understand modern world, the children will learn and realise that resources are unevenly distributed geographically. The increasing demand for natural resources also links to the study of sustainability and finding a way to live in harmony with the planet that supports us, which is a topic the children will further build on in Spring 1 study of Environmental Science unit of work.
The children will also be introduced to the term ‘economic activity’ as one of the dynamics underpinning modern world. Through evaluating the journey an object has to make in order to arrive to their home/classroom and looking at globalisation, the student will identify the transformation our world has made from people depending on themselves to create resources for survival to different areas being specialised in certain economic activity and how those are linked to other areas.
Spring - Settlements and Migration
This unit of work continues to develop the pupils’ understanding of globalisation from Trade Links and Natural Resources unit in Autumn 2. It also builds on Local area studies in Year 3 and Year 6 and further develops the pupils’ comprehension of how population is spread in the world.
By investigating settlement patterns and using atlases and small-scale maps to locate large cities, the children will continue to make links between natural resources and population.
They will learn about the reasons why people migrate and the difference between a voluntary and forced migration and they will have a chance to research some of the most prominent migrations that had shaped our world as we know it; making links from history and local studies.
This unit will also touch up on current issue of refugees and the impact various factors can have on people.
Spring- UK Knowledge: Ireland (Map Skills)
This unit of work builds on the pupils’ previous knowledge from KS2 of UK’s four countries and concludes it by learning about Northern Ireland. It clearly links to the research of the history of the local area (Liverpool) and its links with Ireland.
By learning about the human and physical features of Northern Ireland, its links to the Republic of Ireland 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. They will be able to apply their knowledge of settlement patterns and migration to understand the links between Northern Ireland and North West England.
Summer: Map Skills: Time Zones and Ecuador rainforest
This unit of work brings together everything the pupils have learned in KS1 and KS2 across Geography and other subjects. It allows the pupils to develop their map skills through understanding of time zones and revisiting Year 5 unit of Longitude and Latitude and advance their place knowledge and awareness of world countries by focusing on a not so obvious region of South America, Ecuador.
By locating and describing the key physical features of the continent od South America, the pupils will realise the dominance of the Amazon and the rainforest that covers the Amazon basin. Through the study of geography of Ecuador, they will be able to break some of the stereotypes and misconceptions about South America, discover the uniqueness of the country’s physical and human features and they will also revisit their previous Geography topic of migration, looking at ethnicities present in Ecuador.
Finally, the children will have an opportunity to understand the importance and need for protection of the rainforests.
This Unit not only allows to consolidate previous learning but also provides a chance to discuss some of the global issues linked to non-renewable natural resources, which are usually associated with the more obvious names (Amazon rainforest, Brazil), historical and political connotations and the environmental impact these relationships have on our planet.