Upper Key Stage Two - Geography - linked to the concepts of 'Power and Progress'

A creative sequence of 4 geography based lessons centred around the concepts of ‘Power and Progress’, particularly regarding countries of the world with a particular focus on Dubai and London as cities which have shown huge ‘progress’.
It could easily be adapted to suit a different context or concepts. Learning objectives focused on include:

• Interpreting maps using grid references, symbols and keys - children are encouraged to use a map of their school to find information about the power and progress of countries around the world! Discussion over ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ power.
• Collect and analyse statistics and other information in order to draw conclusions about a place - children design top trump style cards of countries and create their own metrics for comparing power.
• Describe how countries are interconnected and interdependent - use of trading cards linked to natural resources, the children take part in a fun simulation of how international trading works and how countries are interdependent on each other.
• Create maps to identify patterns of land use and population density over time. Through a case study of London and Dubai the children look at data and interpret it, discussing the similarities and differences in their growth. Then they create a map of the patterns of land use in Dubai and predict what will occur next.