I've worked in primary teaching for over 10 years and specialise in creating fun and engaging educational resources, particularly for Geography and History.
I've worked in primary teaching for over 10 years and specialise in creating fun and engaging educational resources, particularly for Geography and History.
This is the free planning overview for Exploring Brazil, a comprehensive unit of work about the geography of Brazil. A vocabulary page and topic title page are also included.
The unit is is designed for students in KS2 from Y4 to Y6 and includes a variety of engaging lessons, differentiated activities and worksheets.
All the resources described in this unit plan are available on TES, either as individual lessons or as a bundle. Lessons include:
L1 – Identifying the countries and capitals of South America
L2 – Writing a Brazil fact file
L3 – Using 4 and 6-figure grid references to locate Brazilian cities
L4 – Identifying the human and physical features of Brazil
L5 – Exploring Brazil’s ecosystems
L6 – Investigating Brazil’s weather and climate
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.
Volcanoes & Earthquakes is an exciting extended Geography unit designed for students in KS2.
The planning overview, topic title page and vocabulary page can be downloaded for free here. Lessons include:
L1 – Understanding the structure of the Earth
L2 – Investigating the structure of a volcano (FREE)
L3 – Locating the world’s famous volcanoes
L4 – Investigating the five deadly features of a volcanic eruption
L5 – Understanding tectonic plates
L6 – Exploring the effects of volcanic eruptions on Montserrat
L7 – Why do people live near volcanoes?
L8 – Understanding the causes of earthquakes
L9 – Investigating the five deadly features of an earthquake
L10 – Researching earthquakes using Wikipedia
L11 – Locating the world’s biggest earthquakes using latitude & longitude
L12 – Writing a fact file about a famous earthquake
Each lesson includes a presentation and differentiated activities/worksheets.
A FREE newspaper report template is also included in this unit.
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.
This lesson is part of Investigating Rivers, a unit designed for upper KS2 (Y4-6).
The presentation takes students on a journey from the source to the mouth of the River Thames. Starting at Thames Head, the source of the River Thames, students investigate maps and satellite photos and try to identify river features along the way. Other locations include Windsor Castle, the Isle of Dogs in London and the mouth of the river at Southend-on-Sea.
The writing-based activity challenges students to first label each map/satellite photo and then write a paragraph describing the location and river features they can see. It is differentiated two ways:
Easier – Students have maps/satellite photos and cloze procedure paragraphs to complete.
Harder – Students have maps/satellite photos, a wordbank and write their own paragraphs.
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.
This lesson is designed for KS2 students. It can be taught as a stand alone lesson but is also available as part of three wider units which are available on TES:
Volcanoes
Volcanoes & Earthquakes
Mountain Environments
First the presentation looks at the features of a volcano, how they are formed and the causes of volcanic eruptions. In the activity, which is differentiated three ways, students identify ten features of a volcano.
Easier – Students identify ten features of a volcano (with prompt boxes and arrows).
Medium – Students identify ten features of a volcano (no prompt boxes or arrows).
Harder – Students identify ten features of a volcano and write a sentence explanation for each one.
Extension – Children complete a cloze procedure activity (differentiated two ways).
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.
This is the free planning overview for Earthquakes. A vocabulary page and topic title page are also included.
This Geography unit is designed for KS2 students and includes seven fully-planned lessons complete with differentiated activities and worksheets.
All the resources described in the planning are available on TES, either as individual lessons or as a bundle. Lessons include:
L1 – Understanding the structure of the Earth
L2 – Understanding tectonic plates
L3 – Understanding the causes of earthquakes
L4 – Investigating the five deadly features of an earthquake
L5 – Researching earthquakes using Wikipedia
L6 – Locating the world’s biggest earthquakes using latitude & longitude
L7 – Writing a fact file about a famous earthquake
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.
This lesson is designed for KS2 students. It can be taught as a stand alone lesson but is also available as part of two wider units, both of which are available on TES:
-Volcanoes
-Volcanoes & Earthquakes
First the presentation introduces some of the world’s most famous volcanoes and classes them as active, dormant or extinct.
The activity then challenges students to locate volcanoes using an atlas or the internet (e.g. Google maps). Alternatively, a map of famous world volcanoes is also provided.
Easier – Students locate volcanoes using the map of famous volcanoes (writing numbers).
Medium – Students locate volcanoes using the map of famous volcanoes (writing volcano names).
Harder – Students locate volcanoes using an atlas.
(N.B. It is recommended you check the atlas has the relevant maps prior doing the activity.)
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.
Understanding Trade is a Geography unit suitable for upper KS2 (Y5-6) and is a great way to teach students about global trade.
The planning overview, topic title page and vocabulary page can be downloaded for free here. Lessons include:
L1 – Investigating where the products we buy come from
L2 – Understanding that all products have a supply chain
L3 – Exploring the chocolate supply chain
L4 – Investigating the UK’s biggest exports
L5 – Investigating the highest value exports of different countries
L6 – Is the banana trade fair? (FREE)
Each lesson includes a presentation and differentiated activities/worksheets.
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.
Volcanoes is an exciting Geography unit designed for students in KS2.
The planning overview, topic title page and vocabulary page can be downloaded for free here. Lessons include:
L1 – Understanding the structure of the Earth
L2 – Investigating the structure of a volcano (FREE)
L3 – Locating the world’s famous volcanoes
L4 – Investigating the five deadly features of a volcanic eruption
L5 – Understanding tectonic plates
L6 – Exploring the effects of volcanic eruptions on Montserrat
L7 – Why do people live near volcanoes?
Each lesson includes a presentation and differentiated activities/worksheets.
A FREE newspaper report template is also included in this unit.
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.
This free lesson is a great way for students to learn the location of the world’s continents and oceans. It can be used as an introduction to the topic for younger students or simply to refresh older students’ core geographical knowledge.
The World Map Jigsaw is a great warm-up activity for this lesson.
First the presentation runs through the continents and oceans of the world. In the worksheet activity students then identify the world’s continents and oceans. This is differentiated four ways:
Easier – Students have initial letters, vocabulary and use an atlas/map prompt.
Medium – Students have vocabulary and use an atlas/map prompt.
Harder – Students solely use an atlas/map prompt (no vocabulary).
Hardest – Students identify continents and oceans with no vocabulary or atlas/map prompt.
Extension – Students use an atlas to work out which continents countries are in.
If you like this resource, please review it. If you have any suggestions or feedback, contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.
Exploring Brazil is a Geography unit designed for students in KS2 (Y4-6).
The planning overview, topic title page and vocabulary page can be downloaded for free here. Lessons include:
L1 – Identifying the countries and capitals of South America
L2 – Writing a Brazil fact file
L3 – Using 4 and 6-figure grid references to locate Brazilian cities
L4 – Identifying the human and physical features of Brazil
L5 – Exploring Brazil’s ecosystems
L6 – Investigating Brazil’s weather and climate
Each lesson includes a presentation and differentiated activities/worksheets.
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.
Mountain Environments is a Geography unit suitable for KS2 (Y4-6) and has everything you need for covering a mountains topic.
The planning overview, topic title page and vocabulary page can be downloaded for free here. Lessons include:
L1 – Identifying the key features of mountains
L2 – Identifying the world’s major mountain ranges
L3 – Locating the world’s famous mountains using latitude and longitude
L4 – Understanding how fold mountains are formed
L5 – Investigating the structure of a volcano (FREE)
L6 – Researching famous world mountains (FREE)
L7 – Investigating mountain climates
Each lesson includes a presentation and differentiated activities/worksheets.
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.
Investigating Rivers is a Geography unit suitable for KS2 (Y4-6).
The planning overview and topic title page can be downloaded for free here. Lessons include:
L1 - Understanding the water cycle
L2 - Identifying features of a river system
L3 - Identifying characteristics of the three stages of a river
L4 - Investigating features of the River Thames
L5 - Thinking about the different ways we use water
L6 - Understanding the impacts of floods and droughts
Each lesson includes a presentation and differentiated activities/worksheets.
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.
This lesson is part of Exploring Brazil, a Geography unit designed for students in KS2 (Y4-6), but can also be taught as a stand alone lesson.
The presentation first locates Brazil in the world’s climate zones and asks children to infer what the country’s weather and climate might be like.
Next, students look at three areas of Brazil in more detail – Manaus in the Amazon, Teresina in the caatinga desert region and Porto Alegre in the south of the country – and investigate a climate graph.
There are two activities:
Activity 1:
Students first investigate three climate graphs, looking at temperature and rainfall. Their challenge is to match each graph to an area of Brazil, explaining their reasoning for their choices. It is differentiated 2 ways:
Easier – Students match two statements to each climate graph, then match each graph to one of the three cities/regions.
Harder – Students write sentence describing the temperature and rainfall patterns in each climate graph, then match each graph to one of the three cities/regions.
Activity 2:
Students create their own Brazil climate graphs in Microsoft Excel using step-by-step instructions.
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.
This lesson is part of Understanding Latitude and Longitude, a unit designed for students in upper KS2 and KS3. It can also be taught as a stand-alone lesson.
The presentation introduces the concept of lines of latitude and longitude, including the Equator and Prime Meridian, and goes on to explain their purpose and relationship to Earth’s hemispheres and poles.
In the activity, students have to identify all of these features on diagrams of the Earth. It is differentiated two ways and includes an extension:
Easier – Students have label clues and a vocabulary bank to help them.
Harder – Students have only a vocabulary bank to help them.
Extension – Students fill in the missing words in a text about latitude and longitude.
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.
This lesson is an ideal introduction to the world’s three main climate zones.
It is part of Our World, a Geography unit designed for students in KS1 and lower KS2 (Y1-3), but can also be taught as a stand alone lesson.
First the presentation helps students understand that different places in the world have different climates. It then looks at the location of the Equator and North/South poles, and how these relate to the three main climate zones. To keep things simple, these are referred to as hot (tropical), mild (temperate) and cold (frigid).
The activity challenges students to locate the Equator and poles and then identify various climate zones around the world. It is differentiated two ways:
Easier – Students identify the climate zone of 8 numbered points around the world.
Harder – Students identify climate zone and continent of 8 numbered points around the world.
Extension – Students cut and stick pictures of four animals – elephant, lion, polar bear and penguin – onto their world climate zone map.
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.
This lesson is part of a wider unit called Exploring St Lucia and is designed to teach KS2 students about a contrasting non-European country.
It first introduces St Lucia and the wider Caribbean area, helping students to locate the island within the wider world.
The activity then challenges students to identify St Lucia and other islands in the Caribbean. It is differentiated three ways:
Easier – Students identify 8 countries (with first-letter clues).
Medium – Students identify 10 countries and 3 seas/oceans (with first-letter clues).
Harder – Students identify 10 countries and 3 seas/oceans (no clues).
Extension – Students complete a cloze procedure text about the location of St Lucia.
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.
This lesson is part of Exploring the United Kingdom, a Geography unit designed for KS1 and lower KS2 (Y2-4).
The presentation helps students understand the difference between human and physical geographical features. It then challenges them to classify famous UK landmarks as either human or physical.
There are two engaging activities included:
Partner activity:
Students sort pictures/descriptions of UK landmarks into human and physical geographical features.
Individual activity:
Students match pictures of UK landmarks to their descriptions. This is differentiated three ways:
Easier – Students match 8 features to their descriptions.
Medium – Students match 12 features to their descriptions.
Harder – Students write a description of each UK landmark using a word bank.
Extension – Students sort the UK landmarks into human and physical geographical features.
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.
This lesson is designed for KS2 children. It can be taught as a stand alone lesson but is also available as part of two wider units, both of which are available on TES:
-Earthquakes
-Volcanoes & Earthquakes
First the presentation looks at how the Earth’s crust is split into tectonic plates. It then examines the causes of earthquakes, how they occur at the fault lines between tectonic plates and what the hypocentre and epicentre of an earthquake are.
There are three different activities to choose from which can be done in Geography and/or Literacy lessons. These include:
Quiz Activity
Students watch a video clip about earthquakes and answer comprehension questions about it. This is differentiated two ways.
Cloze Procedure Activity
Students fill in the blanks in an explanation text about earthquakes. This is differentiated two ways.
Writing Activity
Student write an explanation text about earthquakes. This is differentiated three ways and comes with vocabulary and sentence starter prompts.
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.
This is the first lesson in Mountain Environments, a Geography unit designed for students in upper KS2 (Y4-6).
First the presentation introduces students to the topic and looks at some of the activities people do in mountains. It then introduces the key features of a mountain range.
The activity challenges students to identify the key features of a mountain environment. It is differentiated three ways:
Easier – Students identify 8 key features of mountains.
Medium – Students identify 10 key features of mountains.
Harder – Students label the key features of mountains in their exercise book.
Extension – Students match mountain vocabulary to their definitions.
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.
This lesson is part of Exploring Spain, a Geography unit designed for upper KS2 students (Y4-6), but can also be taught as a stand alone lesson.
The presentation first recaps the climate zones of the world (i.e. tropical, temperate & polar zones) and locates Spain within these.
It then looks in more detail at Spain’s weather, climate zones and the climate of Madrid. Students are then encouraged to find clues about Madrid’s weather using a climate graph.
This lesson includes two activities:
Comprehension activity:
Students interpret climate graphs for Madrid and London and compare the climates of both cities.
ICT activity:
Students create their own climate graph for Madrid using Microsoft Excel.
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.