Geography
"Geography explains the past, illuminates the present and prepares us for the future. What could be more important than that?" - Michael Palin, 2007
Eco-Warriors, 2023-2024: 'Our greatest achievement this year has been organising whole school events like Earth Day and encouraging everyone to do something to help the planet.'
Intent of our Geography curriculum
At Trotts Hill, we believe that Geography helps to provoke and answer questions about the natural and human worlds, encouraging children to develop a greater understanding of their world and their place in it. It helps to develop a range of investigation and problem-solving skills that are transferable to other curriculum areas and which can be used to promote children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Geography is, by nature an investigative subject, which develops an understanding of concepts, knowledge and skills. We seek to inspire in children a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people which will remain with them for the rest of their lives; to promote children’s interest and understanding about diverse places, people, resources and natural and human environments, together with a deep understanding of the Earth’s key physical and human processes.
Curriculum maps
Geography Knowledge and Skills
Eco-Warriors
2025 - 2026
Spring Term:
Year 3 - Regeneration of Stevenage
Year 3 were visited by Alison from Stevenage Borough Council. She talked about Stevenage and the history of the town, explored what regeneration meant and discussed some of the plans which had taken place and were due to take place. The children then had the opportunity to design what they would like to see in Stevenage as part of the regeneration.
Year 3 - Where does our food come from?
The children investigated different food to discover where they came from. The children used atlases to identify the continent and the climate zone for the different foods.
Year 5 - The United Kingdom
The children used maps of different scales and observations of the coastline to place towns and cities on a map. They also calculated distances between places and described them in relation to another using compass directions.
Autumn Term
Nursery tasting fruit from different countries.
Reception - Exploring maps
Year 6 - Our Local Area
The children carried out a fieldwork study on their local area, 'How should The Oval be regenerated?' The children visited their local area, generated a questionnaire and analysed the results to come to a conclusionwith suggestions of how The Oval should be regenerated.
Year 4 and 6 Regeneration Workshops
Alison and Lewis from Stevenage Borough Council came in and spoke to the children about the Council’s current projects to regenerate Stevenage. Some of the projects are to modernise transport facilities, to increase the number of people living and working in town to boost demand for local services, to maximise business/educational facilities and to introduce welcoming new green spaces. The children then designed their own posters showing their ideas of regeneration in Stevenage.
Year 4 Village Settlers
At the start of our Geography unit, Year 4 looked at what they thought early settlers needed when deciding where to build a settlement. They ordered images into categories of importance.
Whole School Sustainability House Morning
Year 1 to Year 6 got together in their houses to complete activities based upon sustainability. The children learnt about plastic pollution in the sea; made eco resources for the classroom; created bug hotels and learnt a song. They finally made pledges and shared these.
Year 3 - Countries around the World
The children completed an active lesson where they had to find the longest river, tallest mountain, smallest country and largest country in each continent.
Year 1 - Human and Physical Features in our local area
2024 - 2025
Summer Term
Year 3 - Deserts
Year 3 investigated deserts around the world. They explored the climate, formations and how humans use deserts.
Eco-Warriors
The Eco-Warriors are very pleased to announce that Trotts Hill has once again been awarded the Eco-Schools award and this year we have passed with Merit.
Year 1- Weather and Seasons
We looked at what clues we can use to help us work out what season it is. We looked at the weather, the amount of light, the temperature and what we see in nature. We sorted the seasons and the elements to match each one.
Spring Term 2025
Year 2 - Oceans and Continents
Year 3 Fieldwork enquiry How can we improve our local park?
The class visited the local park and worked in groups to identify areas, which needed to be improved. The children identified the need for more rubbish bins, more benches and then identified different equipment, which they would like to see included. In the park, the children sketched plans and made notes. Once they returned to school, the children worked in their groups to produce a plan and a short presentation. Finally, the children presented their ideas to the class and the class voted for their favourite.
Year 6 Extreme Earth
In our topic 'Extreme Earth,' Year 6 have been learning about extremes of weather, how earthquakes and tsunamis occur as well as researching extreme weather events that took place. Here is a snap shot of our learning from this term.
Year 3 Where our food comes from
Year 3 investigated different foods to see where they had come from. The children used an atlas to find the countries and recorded the country and food on a world map. They explored the different climate zones where the food originated.
Autumn 2024
Year 1 investigated our local area. The children looked out for physical and human features as they walked to the shops and back.
Year 6 Local Area Field Study
This term Year 6 have been learning about their local area and came up with the question ‘Does The Oval Shopping Centre need regenerating?’ On Wednesday, we visited the Oval and looked at the land-use and amenities on offer. The children then composed a survey to ask the views of people who live in the local area and collated the evidence to come to a conclusion.
Year 5 - The United Kingdom
Year 5 used an atlas to locate cities and the town of Stevenage on a map of the UK. They used a scale to find approximate distances between these urban areas and the eight points of the compass to determine direction.
Year 4 Village Settlers
Year 4 began their Village Settlers unit of work by thinking of what you need, want and can live without when deciding on a suitable place to build a settlement. In groups, they ordered images of these things and shared why they had categorised them in that way. They all agreed that a water source would be very important when choosing a suitable site for a village.
Year 3 Countries of the World
In English and Geography the children have been finding out information about different countries. They have researched human and physical features and presented their learning in a variety of ways.
Year 2 -Islands
Eco-Warriors 2023 - 2024
2023 - 2024
Autumn 2024
Year 2 Islands
Year 5 - Rivers
In order to answer the enquiry question 'How does a river change from source to mouth?', Year 5 watched videos and read texts to find out the answer. They matched key words, pictures and statements and demonstrated their knowledge by modelling in the sandpit.
On a day of sunshine and showers, Year 5 looked at the features of a river in real-life. They were confident in using the key words they had learned in school. Once they had made their own field sketches of the River Lea, they undertook a river speed investigation.
Summer 2024
Year 5 North America
The children found out about how much climates vary across North America after using clues match the correct graphs about temperature, precipitation and sunshine hours to a particular town or city.
Year 3 Deserts
Year 3 have spent this half term learning about deserts around the world. They have learnt what makes an area a desert, the climate and weather of a desert, the features of different deserts, human uses and desertification.
Eco-Award
We are delighted to announce that the Eco-Warriors and the whole school community have been awarded the Eco-Schools Green Flag award with Distinction (the highest level of award). The Eco-Warriors worked very hard creating the Eco-Code, feeding birds, litter picking, encouraging children and staff to turn off lights and reuse paper and introducing the use of glue pots. Well done everyone.
House Day
The whole school came together for a fabulous morning celebrating Earth Day. The morning started with a whole school assembly where the children were reminded about what they can each do to help the environment and why this was important. Each house then spent time carrying out different activities. These activities included: making bird feeders, conducting a bird and bee survey, litter picking, creating music and making pledges.
Eco-Code
The Eco-Warriors worked together to create an Eco-Code for our school and community to follow. This was shared with the whole school during our House Day: Earth Day.
Spring 2024
Year 6 Extreme Earth
In our topic 'Extreme Earth,' Year 6 have been learning about extremes of weather, how earthquakes and tsunamis occur as well as researching extreme weather events that took place. Here is a snap shot of our learning from this term.
Year 3 Litter Pick
Year 3 took part in the Big School Litter Pick organised by Stevenage Borough Council. They helped to pick litter along the cycle path near to school and in Giles Park. They did an excellent job and filled four bags with rubbish.
Year 5 Maps
Year 5 children learned to read contours on a map. They then interpreted them to make a 3D model.
Eco-Warriors
The Eco-Warriors organised and ran a World Book Day costume sale.
The Eco-Warriors have been putting bird feeders around the school grounds.
Year 3 - Where does our food come from?
As part of our learning in geography, Year 3 investigated food packets to find where the food had grown. The children used an atlas and then recorded the locations on a world map which showed the different climate zones.
Autumn Term
Year 3
As part of our unit of learning on Countries of the World, today we focused on using an atlas to locate capital cities of different countries. We discussed the difference between a continent, a country and a city.
Year 4 Settlements
At the start of our unit on Settlements, we worked in groups to decide which things are essential for a new settlement, which things are desirable and which we could live without.
Year 5 - Rivers
After studying how a river changes during the course of its journey from source to mouth, the children made and labelled models to show what they had learned.
Week Commencing Monday 18th December 2023 LI: To create a land-use map using Digi-maps
The children used Digi-maps to create a land-use map of their local area.
2022 - 2023
Year 4 - Visitor in our Geography lesson
Year 4 is learning about Spain and Catalonia in Geography and rather than using the internet or books to research, we decided to invite a primary source in: Ruben's mum, Pilar!
Pilar presented us with lots of facts about Spain. The most surprising was that Spain has two cities in Morocco (like the UK has Gibraltar in Spain). We also learnt that as well as Spanish, there are 6 other regional languages. Pilar and Ruben are from Galicia so they speak Spanish and Galician (which is more like Portuguese). Our favourite fact was the Spanish New Year's Eve ritual where they eat a grape on every dong of the clock before midnight. They make 12 wishes. One for each grape!
Following this visit, the children will write a travel brochure persuading people to visit Spain. Thank you so much to Pilar for giving up her time and visiting us.
Year 3 - Deserts
Year 3 have been learning about life in the desert. They learnt about desert climate, desert formations, human use and desertification.
Summer Term - Year 4
We are learning about Spain and Catalonia. We got the atlases out today and looked at Spain and its surrounding countries and oceans/seas. We also looked to find it's capital and started learning about its 17 autonomous communities.
Summer Term, Year 2 -Let's go on Safari
Year 2 boarded an airplane and took a flight to Kenya as part of their Geography learning. Once their passports were stamped and they had watched the online safety advice, the plane took off to Jomo Kenyatta Airport in Nairobi. Once they had landed, they searched the savannah for safari animals. Nerasaiah, a young girl from a Maasai tribe, took them on a tour of her village in the Maasai Mara and shared her day-to-day life. They found out about Maasai jumping contests and had a try themselves. They made Maasai necklaces and looked at the different patterns used. Finally, they learnt a Kenyan song “Jambo Bwana” The title means “Hello, sir” in Swahili.
Summer Term Year 5 - North America
After learning about climate zones, the pupils used a serious of clue cards to find out about the climate experienced by a number of cities in North America.
Year 6 Spring Term- Extreme Earth.
During our 'Extreme Earth' topic we have been using a range of primary and secondary sources to investigate our key questions. Here are some examples of our learning over the term.
Year 1 Autumn Term- Where I live.
Year 1 walked around the local area identifying human and physical features.
Year 2 - Islands
Year 2 learnt about how flooding can cause islands to form by creating a mini island outside.
Year 6 Autumn Term 2022 LI: Our Local Area
This term Year 6 have been learning about their local area and came up with the question ‘Does The Oval Shopping Centre need regenerating?’ On Tuesday, we visited the Oval and looked at the land-use and amenities on offer. The children then composed a survey to ask the views of people who live in the local area and collated the evidence to come to a conclusion.
Year 4 Autumn Term- Early Settlers
Year 3 Autumn term Countries around the World
As part of our geography learning, we used the internet to research human and physical features of countries around the world. We included details of mountains, rivers, population, tourist attractions, climate zones and language.
Eco Warriors 2022-2023
Congratulations to our Eco-Warriors. They have all received their job description and are excited to continue making Trotts Hill as environmentally friendly as possible.