Geography at Grove

 

Please click on the below links to discover what the children are learning this term.

Autumn 2

Year 1 – Where in the United Kingdom is our class bear?

Year 5 - The Jewel in Birmingham’s crown.

Year 6– Natural disasters.

 

Summer 2

Nursery

Understanding the World

The children have been exploring new spaces using their 5 senses and using positonal language to describe how the spaces are the same and different to each other. The children have been creating 'string' journey in forest school and describing the journey they have created. 

Reception

Understanding the World

This half term the children have been making links between their important places in school and making connections to other countries and cultures through the use of photographs, stories and nursery rhymes. The children have thought about what it might be like to live in these places.

Year 1

Where do animals from Twycross Zoo come from?

Year 1 have been locating the different habitats across the 7 continents of the world which the animals they have been learning about in science live in and exploring their weather patterns. The children drew a map of their route around Twycross Zoo before their visit.

Year 2

Oh, we do like to be beside the seaside!

This half term Year 2 have located the River Severn and Weston-Super-Mare on a map and have used the four points of a compass to describe their location in relation to Birmingham. Before their educational visit to Weston-Super-Mare the children used aerial photographs to recognise the landmarks they might see when there and also looked at features of the seaside.

Year 3

The Romans in Britain - what did they leave us?

Year 3 have been locating countries and cities invaded and occupied by the Romans. On large maps of the UK the children located Roman settements using their understanding of cester, caster and chester. The children used letter number grid refrences to locate the main towns and cities of Roman Britain.

Summer 1

Nursery

Understanding the World

Reception have been exploring the streets surrounding the school. The children have been observing what can be seen on Grove Lane and recording using their senses. The children mapped out a route for their walk around the surrounding streets.

Reception

Understanding the World

Reception have been exploring streets around the school and thought about what might be seen from different locations and what might happen in these different places. The children have explored the lower and upper school buildings, discussing the route they walked and what they would see on the way.

Year 3

Handsworth Library and Baker Street

Year 3 completed a local study the changes which have occured on Baker Street using a 1890 map. To do this, the children have used the 4 points of a compass and letter and number grid references to locate key features of Baker Street and Handsworth Library to identify any differences, and have also looked at the changes in land use. The children indicated differences in landuse by creating their own key on maps.

 

Year 4

I am a Climatologist

Building on the children's Year 3 knowledge of desert and rainforest climate zones, the children in Year 4 have been identifying and comparing Savanna and Tundra climate zones. The children have located these on a world map and have used a venn diagram to compare the main similarities and differences between the two. Pupils were able to describe the types of human settlement and land use within the savanna and tundra biomes.

Year 5

On Top of the World

Using all of their amazing map skills, Year 5 have been naming and locating the world's highest mountains on world and UK maps. Pupils were able to describe the different micro-climates on a mountain. The children learnt about why avalanches occur in mountain ranges. Using lines of longitude and latitude and a topical relief map, children drew conclusions about the locations of the world's highest mountain ranges.

Year 6

Thames Life

The childen have worked on telling the life story of a river. Including how a river is formed from source to mouth and explain the physical features you might see. Using 8 figure grid references, children identified key landmarks which would be seen when travelling down the River Thames. Pupils were able to explain why the bridges over the River Thames are important and the importance of the River Thames for transportation.

Spring 2

Nursery

Understanding the World

This half term nursery have been making maps to show their different routes around school. The children have enjoyed taking their soft toys on a journey along their maps. It has been so exciting to see the tree in the outdoors area beginning to bud during Spring!

Reception

Understanding the World

This half term Reception went on journies to upper and lower school forest school areas. On the way the children came up with simple directions and describes what they could see and hear on the way. The children discussed what changes happen in these different areas. Reception have found signs of spring outside like buds!

Year 4

Birmingham, Our Amazing City

Year 4 have been learning all about 'the second city' of Birmingham. The children have searched for famous landmarks on digital maps and discussed recent changes of land use. This half term the children learnt how to use 4 figure grid references and used them to identify features on a map of the UK. The children finished their topic with a fieldtrip to Handsworth Park where they drew their own messy maps to gather different information about the area.

Please click on the below links to discover what the children are learning this term.

 

Spring 1 knowledge organiser for Year 1

Spring 1 knowledge organiser for Year 2

Spring 2 knowledge organiser for Year 4

 

Spring 1

Nursery

Understanding the World

The children have had a focus on winter, talking about what the weather is like and looking at the plants in the outdoor environment. A timeline was created of a tree and a bush in the outdoor environment to support the pupils to monitor and discuss change. The children looked at the environmental impact they can have depending on how they look after their classroom space.

Reception

Understanding the World

In Reception the pupils looked for signs of winter, by studying the weather and looking at their outdoor environment. The weather greatly supported curriculum delivery this Spring 1 with the snow arriving in time for the children to have first-hand experiences to engage in the weather, exploring the ice using brushes, cloths and sponges in attempt to release the artic animals trapped within. The children looked at the environmental impact they can have depending on how they look after their classroom space, like the use of different bins and correctly turning off taps.

Year 1 

Where in the world is our class bear?

The children have been using postcards from around the world sent in from family and friends, to help them name and locate the 7 continents and 5 oceans of the world. The children were able to use comparative language to talk about the size of the different continents. They located a country on each of the continents, excluding Antarctica and recorded facts about these countries in their continents booklets.

Year 2

The Cadbury Brothers of Birmingham

The children located the Equator, North Pole and South Pole on a world map. Linking to their history topic about the Cadbury Brothers and Bournville, the children located Ghana using a globe and identified different possible routes for coco-beans from Ghana to the UK. The children debated which mode of transport they thought would be the quickest and which would be able to transport the most coco-beans.

The children went on an exciting educational visit to Handsworth Park to consolidate their learning. Prior to the children’s field visit, the children created a sketch map of the park with their own key using an aerial photograph. The children labelled physical and human features using different photographs and used their maps to talk about what is the same and what is different between where the school is and where the park is. Whilst on their walk to the park, the children created a messy map of Handsworth showing rubbish, animals, noise and traffic.

Autumn 2

Nursery

Understanding the World

Nursery have been busy this half term exploring their playground area and thinking about where it is in relation to their classroom. The children have also explored outdoor changes and talked about the weather. Look at the fantastic map of the playground nursery created below! 

Reception

Understanding the World

Reception have been learning about their route from the classroom to their outdoor area. The children have been studying the important places in their playground such as the texture kitchen and water area, and thinking about where these are in relation to each other and to the rest of the school. The children have also continued to look at the seasonal changes all around them.

Year 1

Where in the UK is our class bear?

This half term, Year 1 have located the UK on a world map. The children have used a variety of digital and atlas maps to name and locate the four countries and capital cities of the UK. On a UK map, the children located a river in each of the four countires, and labelled the River Thames on a sketch map. Barnaby Bear helped the children to identify the seasonal weather patterns across the UK when he visited the different capital cities.

Year 5

The Jewel in Birmingham's Crown

Year 5 have been learning all about the Jewel in Birmingham's Crown. Prior to visiting the Jewellery Quarter, the children used an ariel photograph to sketch and label a map of their route and also created their own risk assessment! Whilst on the visit, the children took photographs of key buildings and transport links, to identify and discuss the reasons for repurposing the building over time. During this project, pupils have learnt how to read and use 6 figure grid references through Grove games like 'Grid Guess'.

Year 6

Natural Disasters

Year 6 have been studying different types of natural disasters, including 'earthquakes, volcanic erruptions, floods, droughts, hurricanes, and wildfires. Using different maps, the children have been locating historic natural disasters and with the use of atlases, the children identified patterns of their locations. The children studied the conditions required to cause earthquakes, hurricanes and volcanic erruptions and also assessed the impact of these disasters on human settlements and the natural landscape. 

Autumn 1

Nursery

Understanding the World

To help the children begin understanding the concept of place in nursery, the children have been naming the important places in their classroom. Nursery then zoomed out to explore different places within the school. To begin understanding scale, the children have been looking at where things belong in the classroom and at home. The children have been looking at trees outside to understand how the same things change over time.

Reception

Understanding the World

Reception have been busy this half term looking at the key places in their new classroom and talking about how they feel in each of these places. The children have been using comparative language such as same and different to compare different areas around the school. The children have learnt to zoom in to different areas of their classrooms, homes and story books to help develop their concept of scale. Look at the home within the classroom Reception have made using their deconstructed role play area! The children have enjoyed talking about the weather and exploring the changes of the plants in their playground too.

Year 1 

Did Rosie play with the same toys as me?

This half term Year 1 have been using photographs to record the location of the Victorian toys around the classroom from their History topic. The children have been collecting data to create a class tally chart of their favourite toys, using comparative language to compare the toys and using directional language to get to the toys. The children have been developing their map skills through labelling the location of their toys in the classroom and drawing a plan of the toys in room of their house. The children also began using DigiMaps online to zoom in and out of their town, Handsworth, and City, Birmingham. 

 

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Year 3

I am a Meteorologist

In Year 3 the children have learnt about the different climate zones across the world, comparing deserts and rainforests using atlases and a Biomes of the World map on DigiMaps. The children made a prediction about what rainforests and deserts would be like, and which plants would grow there using their knowledge of hot and cold places. The children created weather charts on J2data for Handsworth, comparing their weather record in the summer from their holiday project, with the current autumn weather.