2024/25

Spring 2

Year 3/4 - Northern Ireland

Key end points of this unit:

• Northern Ireland is one of the countries in the United Kingdom.

• It is located on the island of Ireland. • Belfast is the capital city of Northern Ireland.

• The Republic of Ireland was partitioned from Northern Ireland in 1922.

• Giant’s Causeway is a landscape of rock columns made from basalt. It was created by an ancient volcanic eruption.

• Marble Arch Caves were formed by water flowing slowly through rocks and gradually dissolving the stone away.

Children will use maps of Ireland and Northern Ireland to locate key features and locations. Throughout this unit, children will be forming an understanding that Northern Ireland is a diverse place, with contrasting landscapes including rural and urban environments. Children will build on their map skills, using maps of Northern Ireland to look at the shape of the land and to identify key locations. In the geography curriculum, children will frequently be asked to consider what a geographer would say about a place.  In this unit, there is a lesson on tourism where children learn that tourists can be helpful to regions as they bring money to spend. They will think about the purpose of organisations such as UNESCO and the National Trust and how certain important areas of the world are protected.

Year 5/6 - Africa

Key end points of this unit:

.•Africa is a diverse continent.

.•Biomes located in Africa include: forests, desert, grasslands, savannah, and mangroves.

.• Desertification is a process that changes productive land into desert.

• If people within a country cannot access nutritious food, the country experiences food insecurity.

• Locust and other pest infestations can damage farmland and cause food insecurity.

In this unit, pupils will be introduced to the African continent and will begin by looking at the diversity of the continent. Year 5/6 will be looking further back in time and recognising that scientists believe Africa to be the oldest inhabited continent. Pupils will locate physical geographical features of the continent such as the coastlines, the equator, the Atlas Mountains, Mount Kilimanjaro and the Sahel region. They will understand how Africa is rich in minerals and resources.