Vegetation Belts: What is a hot desert like?

We learned that although deserts are hot, they can also be cold, such as the Arctic. The reason for this is that the classification of a desert is the amount of precipitation that the area receives. We considered plants and vegetation, animals and humans and how they have adapted to live in such harsh conditions. We focused on the Bedouin tribe and how they travel with their cattle and why deserts are hot. This included learning about the Hadley Cell.

Alfie: 'So that we could look at sources, we read a recent newspaper article about the growth of Dubai which raised awareness of the environmental problems that this newly created city was experiencing as a result of its location and its quick growth. I found that bringing current issues to our learning was very interesting.'

Counties of the UK

This was such a fun lesson! We had 30 seconds to look at the map showing the Counties of England and tried to see how many we could label in 30 seconds! After gaining an understanding of a County being an administrative area to assist with the governing of the UK, we independently researched information about our own County of Merseyside. In doing so we were able to locate geographical areas of the UK. We completed the table for some directed research and were able to consider some cross curricular links with history too.

Daisy: 'I enjoyed learning about the link with the Vikings with the River Alt.'

Ethan: 'It was important to understand our place in the UK.'

Mapping the World: Lines of Latitude and Longitude

We used a map of to find out the latitude and longitude coordinates of the various countries. As a challenge, we used an atlas to locate other countries and record their coordinates. 

Exploring South America

We used the atlases to help complete a map of South America. We located the countries within this diverse continent and recorded their capital cities.