In this project, the children learn about historically significant people and their impact on the world. Although this is not a main Geography project, they will look at explorers and their voyages; Vasco de Gama's voyage to India, Christopher Columbus' voyage to the Americas, Captain James Cook's voyage to New Zealand and Australia, Roald Amundsen's voyage to the South Pole and Neil Armstrong's voyage to the Moon. They will develop contextual knowledge of the location of globally significant places- both terrestrial and marine-including their defining physical and human characteristics and how these provide a geographical context for understanding the actions of processes. They will be learn the names, locations and significance of these places. Using maps of the world, they will retrace the journeys and destinations of these significant explorers.

This is Year 2’s main Geography topic which they study in the Spring Term. This project teaches children about the physical and human features of coastal regions across the United Kingdom, including a detailed exploration of the coastal town of Whitby, in Yorkshire, and it’s human and physical features.

The children will begin by learning that The United Kingdom is a group of islands with an expansive coastline. They will name and locate seas surrounding the UK, as well as seas, the five oceans and seven continents around the world on a world map or globe. They will use maps to explore the position of various coastal locations, such as Whitby, and this will extend to questions about direction of travel. This will draw on their knowledge of compass points as these will help them to describe a location or the direction of travel.

The children will look at symbols on coastal town maps and will learn that each one represents a physical or human feature.

In this project, they will look at the physical process of erosion. They will be able to describe what erosion is and how the coastline erodes. They will understand that the waves cause erosion and will be encouraged to use vocabulary such as ‘washing away’, ‘crumbling’, ‘breaking’ and ‘eroding’ in their descriptions.

Whilst looking at the coastline and coastal towns, they will discover the importance of rescue stations on the maps they look at. Alongside this they will look at Saltwick Nab, in Whitby, which is an example of a physical coastal feature. They will discover that this rocky platform, which is hidden by the sea, presents a danger to ships in the Whitby area.

The project ends with the children being asked to design a coastal town that tourists would want to visit. They will choose a location along the coastline of the United Kingdom to place their towns and describe its physical and human features. The children will also give visitors advice for ways to stay safe during their visit.

In this project, they will learn about the English and British monarchy. Although this is not a main Geography project, they will look at royal residencies around the UK and Ireland on maps. They will use the key and symbols on maps to discover more about the location of these royal residencies. They will discover that there are different types of royal residency include castles, palaces and stately homes, and they will explore those that are closest to their location. They will also use aerial photos and online maps to discover these residencies further.