Subject in the Spotlight - Geography

Autumn 2 - w/c 06/11/2023

What a way to start the new term of Geography! Across school, children have been busy studying the key features of our planet and especially looking closely at the key substantive knowledge of continents and oceans, alongside the topic focus of Key Stage 1’s ‘The United Kingdom’, LKS2’s ‘Cottonopolis’ local study and UKS2’s Volcanoes. 

KS1 have explored the location and key features of the UK and its 4 countries. The children used iPad’s, google maps and atlases to find and locate the surrounding features capital cities, then complimented their learning with an ‘Atlas Challenge’ of finding out what famous landmarks can be found in each of the major continents on Earth!

LKS2 started their local study of ‘Cottonopolis’ with a view from outer space, using maps, atlases and Google Earth to zoom in to Westhoughton. The children have studied local features and surrounding human and physical geography of our town and are going to progress to finding the location of some our valuable historical cotton mills that made our town so famous.

In UKS2, the children began their exploration of the ‘Volcanoes’ topic with a close magnification of how our Earth was constructed, with very much a scientific link. They used play-doh and clay to create the Earth’s segments, using google maps to assist with the surface element to include continent and oceans. It has been fascinating to see the level of detail involved in their studies and some excellent ‘collaboration’ along the way!

Autumn 2 - w/c 20/11/2023

In the last few weeks, there have been some excellent examples of Geography within our school phases. The topics of ‘Volcanoes’, ‘Cottonopolis’ and ‘The UK’ have taken to life with great practical and collaborative learning examples and the children have worked hard to engage in such an enthusiastic way!

KS1 have continued their learning about the UK over the last fortnight, based on the islands that make up our nation and delving into what makes each nation so unique. The children have used iPads and google maps with partners to locate the surrounding 4 seas of the UK, the symbols of each nation and even found time to discuss each flag – including why each bears a different symbol that ultimately makes up the ‘Union Jack’ of the United Kingdom.

LKS2 continued their local study of ‘Cottonopolis’, with several lessons based on the township of Westhoughton itself and our locality within Bolton. The classes used OS maps and Google Earth to sketch map, gaining a familiarity of the boundaries around school. The children were eager to describe what they know about the roads, rivers and railway lines of Westhoughton, whilst using some excellent vocabulary such as human, physical and environmental geography along the way,

In UKS2, the ‘Volcanoes’ topic is well and truly under way with the children focussing their efforts on the location of volcanic activity on Earth. The study of key vocabulary during lesson like, ‘dormant’, ‘active’ and ‘extinct’ has helped understand why volcanoes can be so volatile. The children complimented this learning across the fortnight with a study of which volcanoes are close to the human populace and how people live in proximity to active volcanoes.

Autumn 2 - w/c 04/12/2023

Since our last entry, Geography this half term has taken on some excellent forms. The children have been extending their knowledge of Volcanoes, Westhoughton and The UK in some very surprising ways indeed. Examples of this include filed working with compass directions, mapping the location of major volcanoes around our planet and finding the local mills that were once so important to our town of Westhoughton on Ordinance Survey maps. 

Key Stage 1 have been working hard to show off their knowledge of both ‘Human’ and ‘Physical’ Geography in the UK by studying major landmarks and where they are located on our islands. We have been looking at real life examples of this Geography and applying them to maps and OS type spreadsheets. We have collaborated to create examples such as canals, rivers and roads using the key vocabulary to highlight our knowledge of the Geography curriculum.

Lower Key Stage 2 have been extending their knowledge by mapping the local area of Westhoughton, including some cross curricular developments with History by studying the mills that made our town famous. We used OS maps, and sketch mapping, to find and locate these mills and eventually compared why they made our town so wealthy and so popular! Some excellent collaboration along the way and we used our key vocabulary so well to explain and justify our points of view!

In Upper Key Stage 2, we continued our volcanoes topic by studying and ‘zooming’ in on our learning of specific volcanoes such as Krakatoa and Etna. We used Google Maps to locate and study the human populace that live so close to these environmental wonders. We learned how humans cope with the conditions of living near to volcanoes and what the benefits and detriments are to living and surviving close to regular eruptions. We compared and contrasted our own viewpoints to extend our learning, giving personal reasons as to why living near to volcanoes can be dangerous, but also sometimes rewarding.

Autumn 2 - w/c 18/12/2023

Alongside the festive themed learning and Christmas inspired creations, Geography at The Gates over the last week has taken on a few different faces! From Christmas-themed mapping and Santa Tracking, plotting relevant routes for Father Christmas to take, the usual topics of Volcanoes, The UK and ‘Cottonopolis’ have showcased the strength of Geography across our phases in school.

Key Stage 1 have been completing their topic by embedding their knowledge of human and physical features by creating their very own weather reports, including some excellent computing ‘Green Screen’ presentations in Robins class! The children took to presenting likes ducks to water and were extremely keen to show off their knowledge of the 4 countries!

Lower Key Stage 2 have been extending their knowledge of key human and physical geographical points of interest in Westhoughton, including some superb examples of in-depth sketch maps. Using superb collaboration, and a cross curricular theme with our local History topic of the same name, the children used their mapping and communication skills to find the sites of key producing mills from our local area, dating from the 1800 until present day. Google maps, including ‘Street View’ played a pivotal role in this key learning. 

In Upper Key Stage 2, the children concluded their volcanoes topic by studying the effects and corresponding historical analysis of the Ancient Roman of Pompeii and the devastation brought upon the town by the volcanic eruption of Vesuvius in 79AD. The children again discussed their own opinions of living close to active volcanoes and the benefits or risks to doing so. The children produced some excellent reasons for their thoughts, giving superb moral and personal justification to their logic.