Geography: Using an Atlas

In Year 2, we have recently started our Geography topic of London (which is part of our wider Autumn topic, London: Then and Now). We began by learning about the four countries of the United Kingdom and discussed some facts about each of these. We were shocked to find out that the national dish of England is actually an Indian Chicken Tikka Masala! On top of this, the patron saints of each of the countries are the four team names that we have in school too.

To be able to accurately locate the four countries, we had to use an atlas. This is a book that shows a variety of different maps of the world, continents and countries. We colour-coded our map and made a key to indicate which where each of the countries were. From here, we then used the atlas to be able to label each of the capital cities of each country. We found out that the capital cities are where governments tend to have their main offices. Our own maps had little red dots on and we used these to try and find similar dots in the atlases. We now know that the capital city of Scotland is Edinburgh, the capital city of Wales is Cardiff, the capital city of Northern Ireland is Belfast and the capital city of England is London (of course!).

Later in our topic, we will be learning about compass directions and will be able to create our own maps to plot the different London landmarks along the Thames and we will also be going to Regent’s Park to take part in some orienteering activities!

What did you learn in our geography lessons this week?