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 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
N.B. Ideally children have a grounding in latitude and longitude prior to this lesson. The unit Understanding Latitude & Longitude is an ideal introduction to the topic.
First the presentation introduces students to latitude and longitude and goes through how to find the coordinates of a point step-by-step. It then asks them to find the latitude and longitude of several world capital cities.
The activity challenges students to locate the world’s biggest earthquakes using their latitude and longitude. It is differentiated three ways:
Easier – Students locate 12 earthquakes using latitude and longitude.
Medium – Students locate 15 earthquakes using latitude and longitude.
Harder – Students locate 18 earthquakes using 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 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
The presentation investigates the five deadly features of earthquakes including ground shaking, tsunamis, landslides, raising/lowering of land and liquefaction.
It is followed up by an activity which is differentiated four ways:
Easier – Students match pictures of the five features of an earthquake to descriptions.
Medium – Students complete cloze procedure sentences. They then match pictures to each description.
Harder – Students complete cloze procedure sentences. They then match pictures to each description and add a title for each section.
Hardest – Students stick pictures of the five features of an earthquake in their books and write their own description next to each one.
Extension – Can students unscramble the jumbled up earthquake facts?
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 Mountain Environments, a Geography unit designed for students in upper KS2 (Y4-6).
First the presentation introduces some of the most famous mountain ranges from around the world.
The differentiated activity then challenges students to locate the world’s mountain ranges and encourages them to use and explore atlases. It is recommended that students do the activity in pairs.
Easier – Students identify the world’s famous mountain ranges (less writing).
Medium – Students identify the world’s famous mountain ranges (first letter clues)
Harder – Students identify the world’s famous mountain ranges (no clues)
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.
This lesson explains step-by-step how to find the coordinates of a point on a world map using lines of latitude and longitude.
In the activity, students are challenged to find the latitude and longitude of 12 points in all four quadrants of a world map. It is differentiated three ways:
Easier – Students find coordinates of 12 points in the NE, SE, SW and NW quadrants of the world map respectively. The compass directions are already filled in.
Medium – Students find coordinates of 12 points in the NE, SE, SW and NW quadrants of the world map respectively.
Harder – Students find coordinates of 12 points randomly distributed across the four quadrants of the world map.
Extension – Students are challenged to draw and label 4 more points on to their 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 Understanding Trade, a Geography unit designed for students in upper KS2 (Y5-6).
First the presentation helps students understand what trade is and introduces the concepts of imports and exports. It does this by linking these ideas to every day products we buy. It also looks at the different scales of trade – local, national and international.
The activity then challenges students to match up products with statements about the company which makes them and where they are produced/manufactured.
Easier – Match the products to the statements (on stickers)
Harder – Match the products to the statements (written)
Extension – Students complete a cloze procedure paragraph about trade.
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.
It takes students on a tour of the geographical features of Brazil. First students investigate a satellite photo of South America. They then look at a map of Brazil itself to see what human and physical features they can spot (e.g. Brazilian cities, Amazon rainforest).
In the activity students identify human and physical features of Brazil. It is differentiated three ways:
Easier – Students label 10 physical features of Brazil.
Medium – Students draw in arrows and label 10 physical features of Brazil.
Harder – Students stick a map of Brazil into their book, draw in arrows and label 10 physical features.
Extension – Students use atlases to also identify 8 Brazilian cities.
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 looks at Mount Etna and Mount Vesuvius in Italy and asks why people choose to live so close to volcanoes.
The activities then challenges students to think about the advantages and disadvantages of living near a volcano:
Partner Activity:
Students sort statements and photos into advantages and disadvantages of living near a volcano.
Writing Activity:
Students write about the advantages and disadvantages of living near a volcano. Stickers and a vocabulary prompt are provided for this 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.
This lesson is part of Understanding Trade, a Geography unit designed for students in upper KS2 (Y5-6).
The presentation first asks students to think about how the products we buy arrive in the shops. It then introduces the concept of supply chains. To explain this concept, students look at the processes involved in the production of milk.
There are two activities:
Group Activity:
Students sort and sequence four mixed up supply chains including those of bananas, T-shirts, bookshelves and coffee.
Individual Activity:
Students sequence the supply chains of bananas, T-shirts, bookshelves and coffee.
Easier – Students sequence supply chains (first and last process given)
Harder – Students sequence supply chains (no clues)
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
The presentation first asks students how they would go about finding information about earthquakes. It then introduces them to the online encyclopedia Wikipedia.
The activity then challenges students to research the world’s 12 biggest earthquakes:
Easier – Students use Wikipedia to find one piece of information per earthquake.
Harder – Students use Wikipedia to find two pieces of information per earthquake.
Extension – Students answer questions about the world’s famous earthquakes using Wikipedia.
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 Mountain Environments, a Geography unit designed for students in upper KS2 (Y4-6).
First the presentation looks at features of a mountain climate including lower temperatures and increased rainfall. It then focuses in more detail on the climate of Mount Everest.
There are two activities:
Interpreting climate graphs
In this activity students look at and answer questions about temperature graphs for both the summit and base camp of Mount Everest. It is differentiated two ways:
Easier – Students answer questions about temperature graphs for Mount Everest (suitable for Year 4 and 5).
Harder – Students answer questions about temperature graphs for Mount Everest (suitable for Year 6).
Creating a climate graph in Excel
In this ICT activity, students create their own climate graph, including temperature and rainfall, for the summit of Mount Everest 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.
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 Exploring Brazil, a Geography unit designed for students in KS2 (Y4-6), but can also be taught as a stand alone lesson.
It is a great introduction to using 6-figure grid references. The presentation first recaps how to find 4-figure grid references, then demonstrates how to find 6-figure grid references step by step.
There are two activities:
Activity 1:
Students locate 16 Brazilian cities using 4-figure grid references.
Extension – Students answer questions involving grid references and compass directions.
Activity 2:
Students have a go at describing the location of Brazilian cities more precisely using 6-figure grid references.
Easier – Students use mini-grids to help them locate 16 cities using 6-figure grid references.
Medium – Students use mini-grids to locate 8 cities, then estimate 6-figure grid references for 8 more cities.
Harder – Students have to estimate 6-figure grid references for all 16 cities (i.e. no mini-grids).
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).
N.B. If students are new to compass directions, use Introduction to compass directions to introduce the topic prior to this lesson.
First the presentation reminds students of the four cardinal compass directions. It then encourages them to use compass directions to describe the position of towns and cities around the UK.
In the activity, students have to find UK cities using compass clues. There are two differentiated activity worksheets:
Easier – Students locate cities using compass clues and starting letter clues.
Harder – Students locate cities using compass and harder starting letter clues.
Extension – Students complete cloze procedure sentence about the location of cities in the UK.
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.
Students first learn about the Iberian peninsula. They then explore some of the main geographical features of Spain itself and categorise these into human (e.g. cities) and physical (e.g. mountains).
The activity challenges students to identify these features on a map of Spain. It is differentiated two ways:
Easier – Students identify human & physical features of Spain using a colour-coded map and word bank
Harder – Students identify human & physical features of Spain using a map & word bank
Extension – Students complete a cloze procedure text about the human and physical geography of Spain.
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.
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 introduces students to Brazil’s six main biomes including the tropical rainforest, caatinga (desert), Pantanal wetlands, cerrado (savannah) and Atlantic Forest. Students then read an information text to find out more.
In the activity, students write an information text about Brazil’s ecosystems. This can either be done as a short activity or as an extended write in Literacy. (N.B. The activity sheets need to be enlarged to A3 size to provide adequate space for writing.)
Short Activity:
Easier – Students match statements to each ecosystem and write them in each box.
Medium – Students add titles, then match statements to each ecosystem and write them in each box.
Harder – Students add titles and write their own sentences about each ecosystem in the box.
Extension – Students label the different ecosystems on the map, including drawings of animals found in each one.
Extended Writing Activity:
Easier – Students write an information text about Brazil’s ecosystems, including an introductory paragraph.
Harder – Students write an information text about Brazil’s ecosystems, including sub-headings and an introductory paragraph.
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).
It introduces many key river concepts and a wide range of related vocabulary. First the presentation recaps the main processes of the water cycle. It then introduces some of the well known features of river systems (e.g. waterfalls and lakes). There are two activities:
Group Activity:
Students are challenged to match eight features of river systems to photos, satellite images and maps. This activity can easily be differentiated by giving groups different numbers of cards.
Individual Activity:
In the worksheet activity students identify the same features on a simplified drawing of a river system. It is differentiated two ways:
Easier – Students identify river features and complete cloze procedure definitions.
Harder – Students identify river features and write their own definitions of four river 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 part of Investigating Rivers, a unit designed for upper KS2 (Y4-6).
Students are first introduced to the three stages of a river – the upper course, middle course and lower course – and some of the key features of each. The presentation then challenges students to think about the characteristics of rivers in these different stages (e.g. altitude, channel width, water speed).
In the activity, students match descriptions to each stage of a river. It is differentiated two ways:
Easier – Students match colour-coded descriptions to either the upper, middle or lower course of a river.
Harder – Students match descriptions to either the upper, middle or lower course of a river.
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 shows students how to work out a 4-figure grid reference.
The activity then challenges students to describe the position of different cities in Spain using 4-figure grid references. It is differentiated two ways:
Easier – Students locate Spanish cities using 4-figure grid references (with clues).
Harder – Students locate Spanish cities using 4-figure grid references.
Extension – Students identify Spanish cities using compass direction and grid reference clues.
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).
It challenges students to think about all the different ways we use water and where we get it from. Are these necessary (needs) or luxury (wants)?
Students then categorise these uses of water as agricultural, recreational, commercial/industrial or community. Lastly, they consider how we can balance human water requirements with those of Earth’s wildlife.
In the activity students sort photos of different water uses into six different categories:
Household
Commercial/industrial
Recreational
Agricultural
Community
Wildlife
In the extension activity, students classify each water use as either necessary or luxury and explain their reasoning.
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.