I've worked in primary teaching for over 10 years and specialise in creating fun and engaging educational resources, particularly for Geography and History.
I've worked in primary teaching for over 10 years and specialise in creating fun and engaging educational resources, particularly for Geography and History.
Volcanoes is an exciting Geography unit designed for students in KS2.
The planning overview, topic title page and vocabulary page can be downloaded for free here. Lessons include:
L1 – Understanding the structure of the Earth
L2 – Investigating the structure of a volcano (FREE)
L3 – Locating the world’s famous volcanoes
L4 – Investigating the five deadly features of a volcanic eruption
L5 – Understanding tectonic plates
L6 – Exploring the effects of volcanic eruptions on Montserrat
L7 – Why do people live near volcanoes?
Each lesson includes a presentation and differentiated activities/worksheets.
A FREE newspaper report template is also included in this unit.
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.
This lesson is part of Exploring Brazil, a Geography unit designed for students in KS2 (Y4-6), but can also be taught as a stand alone lesson.
The presentation introduces students to Brazil’s six main biomes including the tropical rainforest, caatinga (desert), Pantanal wetlands, cerrado (savannah) and Atlantic Forest. Students then read an information text to find out more.
In the activity, students write an information text about Brazil’s ecosystems. This can either be done as a short activity or as an extended write in Literacy. (N.B. The activity sheets need to be enlarged to A3 size to provide adequate space for writing.)
Short Activity:
Easier – Students match statements to each ecosystem and write them in each box.
Medium – Students add titles, then match statements to each ecosystem and write them in each box.
Harder – Students add titles and write their own sentences about each ecosystem in the box.
Extension – Students label the different ecosystems on the map, including drawings of animals found in each one.
Extended Writing Activity:
Easier – Students write an information text about Brazil’s ecosystems, including an introductory paragraph.
Harder – Students write an information text about Brazil’s ecosystems, including sub-headings and an introductory paragraph.
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.
This lesson is part of The Seaside, a Geography unit designed for students in KS1 and lower KS2, but can also be taught as a stand alone lesson.
The presentation takes students on a tour of eight seaside towns and cities around the United Kingdom including: Ayr and St Andrews in Scotland; Aberystwyth in Wales; Blackpool and Newquay in England.
The activity then challenges students to use their map skills to locate these towns and cities on a map of the UK. This can be done using an atlas or the prompt maps included.
Easier - Students label 8 seaside towns and cities using a prompt map.
Medium - Students label 12 seaside towns and cities using a prompt map.
Harder - Students label 12 seaside towns and cities using an atlas.
Extension - Students locate and label 2 further seaside towns and cities from each country of the UK.
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.
This lesson is part of Understanding Latitude and Longitude, a unit designed for students in upper KS2 and KS3. It can also be taught as a stand-alone lesson.
This lesson explains step-by-step how to find the coordinates of a point on a world map using lines of latitude and longitude.
In the activity, students are challenged to find the latitude and longitude of 12 points in all four quadrants of a world map. It is differentiated three ways:
Easier – Students find coordinates of 12 points in the NE, SE, SW and NW quadrants of the world map respectively. The compass directions are already filled in.
Medium – Students find coordinates of 12 points in the NE, SE, SW and NW quadrants of the world map respectively.
Harder – Students find coordinates of 12 points randomly distributed across the four quadrants of the world map.
Extension – Students are challenged to draw and label 4 more points on to their map.
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.
This lesson is designed for KS2 children. It can be taught as a stand alone lesson but is also available as part of two wider units, both of which are available on TES:
-Earthquakes
-Volcanoes & Earthquakes
N.B. Ideally children have a grounding in latitude and longitude prior to this lesson. The unit Understanding Latitude & Longitude is an ideal introduction to the topic.
First the presentation introduces students to latitude and longitude and goes through how to find the coordinates of a point step-by-step. It then asks them to find the latitude and longitude of several world capital cities.
The activity challenges students to locate the world’s biggest earthquakes using their latitude and longitude. It is differentiated three ways:
Easier – Students locate 12 earthquakes using latitude and longitude.
Medium – Students locate 15 earthquakes using latitude and longitude.
Harder – Students locate 18 earthquakes using latitude and longitude.
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.
Exploring St Lucia is a Geography unit designed for students in KS2.
As a tropical island in the Caribbean, St Lucia is great for teaching about a contrasting non-European country.
The planning overview, topic title page and vocabulary page can be downloaded for free here. Lessons include:
L1 – Locating St Lucia in the Caribbean
L2 – Identifying the human and physical features of St Lucia
L3 – Investigating satellite photos of St Lucia
L4 – Using compass directions to locate places in St Lucia
L5 – Comparing the weather of St Lucia and the UK
L6 – Comparing St Lucia with the UK
Each lesson includes a presentation and differentiated activities/worksheets.
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.
This lesson is part of Understanding Trade, a Geography unit designed for students in upper KS2 (Y5-6).
First the presentation helps students understand what trade is and introduces the concepts of imports and exports. It does this by linking these ideas to every day products we buy. It also looks at the different scales of trade – local, national and international.
The activity then challenges students to match up products with statements about the company which makes them and where they are produced/manufactured.
Easier – Match the products to the statements (on stickers)
Harder – Match the products to the statements (written)
Extension – Students complete a cloze procedure paragraph about trade.
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.
Exploring Brazil is a Geography unit designed for students in KS2 (Y4-6).
The planning overview, topic title page and vocabulary page can be downloaded for free here. Lessons include:
L1 – Identifying the countries and capitals of South America
L2 – Writing a Brazil fact file
L3 – Using 4 and 6-figure grid references to locate Brazilian cities
L4 – Identifying the human and physical features of Brazil
L5 – Exploring Brazil’s ecosystems
L6 – Investigating Brazil’s weather and climate
Each lesson includes a presentation and differentiated activities/worksheets.
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.
Earthquakes is an exciting Geography unit designed for students in KS2.
The planning overview, topic title page and vocabulary page can be downloaded for free here. Lessons include:
L1 – Understanding the structure of the Earth
L2 – Understanding tectonic plates
L3 – Understanding the causes of earthquakes
L4 – Investigating the five deadly features of an earthquake
L5 – Researching earthquakes using Wikipedia
L6 – Locating the world’s biggest earthquakes using latitude & longitude
L7 – Writing a fact file about a famous earthquake
Each lesson includes a presentation and differentiated activities/worksheets.
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.
Great Missenden – A Village Settlement is a Geography unit suitable for upper KS2 (Y4-6).
Located in the Chilterns in Buckinghamshire, the village of Great Missenden was once home to famous children’s author Roald Dahl. It is a great case study for helping students understand the similarities and differences between urban and rural settlements.
The planning overview and topic title page can be downloaded for free here. Lessons include:
L1 – Locating Great Missenden in the UK
L2 – Investigating satellite photos of Great Missenden
L3 – Locating features of Great Missenden using grid references
L4 – Identifying the features of settlements
L5 – Surveying Great Missenden High Street using Google Street View
L6 – Interpreting a high street survey of Great Missenden
Each lesson includes a presentation and differentiated activities/worksheets.
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.
This lesson is part of Understanding Latitude and Longitude, a unit designed for students in upper KS2 and KS3. It can also be taught as a stand-alone lesson.
This lesson gives students a chance to consolidate the skills the have learned in the unit so far. The presentation first encourages students to estimate latitude and longitude and then challenges them to work out the coordinates of several capital cities.
The activity can be used as an assessment tool for the unit or done in partners to promote discussion and sharing of ideas. There is also an extension activity.
Activity – Students identify world capital cities using latitude and longitude clues.
Extension – Students locate and label 6 more capital cities on their world map and answer further challenge questions.
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.
This lesson is part of Exploring Spain, a Geography unit designed for upper KS2 students (Y4-6), but can also be taught as a stand alone lesson.
In the presentation students embark on a tour of Madrid, learning interesting facts about Spain’s capital city along the way. They visit sites including the famous Royal Palace, the Sun Gate and the Santiago Bernabeú Stadium, home of Real Madrid.
The lesson has two activities:
Quiz activity:
Students use an online encyclopedia to answer questions about Madrid.
Guided tour writing activity:
Students give their very own guided tour of Madrid.
Easier – Students write a guided tour of Madrid using a writing frame.
Harder – Students write a guided tour of Madrid by sticking images into their exercise books.
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.
This lesson is part of Mountain Environments, a Geography unit designed for students in upper KS2 (Y4-6).
First the presentation introduces some of the most famous mountain ranges from around the world.
The differentiated activity then challenges students to locate the world’s mountain ranges and encourages them to use and explore atlases. It is recommended that students do the activity in pairs.
Easier – Students identify the world’s famous mountain ranges (less writing).
Medium – Students identify the world’s famous mountain ranges (first letter clues)
Harder – Students identify the world’s famous mountain ranges (no clues)
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.
This lesson is part of Understanding Trade, a Geography unit designed for students in upper KS2 (Y5-6).
The presentation starts by recapping what imports and exports are. It goes on to look at the UK’s top ten exports – mainly manufactured products – and the human and physical factors which help UK exports in this area.
In the activity, students use Microsoft PowerPoint to create a table of the UK’s top ten exports. They then use an online chart maker to produce either a pie chart or bar graph to illustrate this data. It is differentiated three ways:
Easier – Students use step-by-step instructions with some data already filled in
Medium – Students use step-by-step instructions
Harder – Minimal instructions – IT experts only!
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.
Exploring the UK is a Geography unit suitable for KS1 and lower KS2 (Y2-4).
The planning overview, topic title page and vocabulary page can be downloaded for free here. Lessons include:
L1 – Identifying the countries and capitals of the UK & Ireland (FREE)
L2 – Locating UK cities using compass directions
L3 – Identifying human & physical features of the UK
L4 – Investigating satellite photos of the UK
L5 – Comparing the city and the countryside
L6– Identifying famous features and characteristics of countries of the UK
L7 – Identifying flags of the United Kingdom
L8 – Identifying the four seasons of weather in the UK
Optional lesson – Identifying the countries and capital cities of Europe
Each lesson includes a presentation and differentiated activities/worksheets.
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.
London Zoo is a cross-curricula unit suitable for KS1 and lower KS2 (Y2-4).
It is a fun way to learn about one of the world’s most famous zoos.
The planning overview and topic title page can be downloaded for free here. Lessons include:
L1 – Writing a fact file about London Zoo
L2 – Taking a tour of London Zoo
L3 – Using compass directions at London Zoo
L4 – Using grid references at London Zoo
L5 – Matching animals to their habitat
L6 – The history of London Zoo
Each lesson includes a presentation and differentiated activities/worksheets.
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.
Exploring Australia is a comprehensive unit of lessons investigating Australia’s geography. It is designed for students in upper KS1 and lower KS2 (Y2-Y4).
A planning overview, topic title page and a knowledge organiser can be downloaded for FREE here.
The unit includes a variety of engaging lessons, differentiated activities, worksheets and a display pack. All resources are compatible with both Microsoft Office and Google Workspace.
All the resources described in this unit plan are available on TES, either as individual lessons or as a bundle. Lessons include:
L1 – Locating Australia on a world map
L2 – Identifying cities and states of Australia
L3 – Identifying human and physical features of Australia
L4 – Investigating satellite photos of Australian landmarks
L5 – Investigating Australia’s weather and climate
L6 – Comparing the UK and Australia
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.
This lesson is part of Our World, a Geography unit designed for students in KS1 and lower KS2 (Y1-3), but can also be taught as a stand alone lesson.
This Geography lesson is a fun introduction to satellite photos. The presentation first helps students understand what satellite photos are. It then challenges them to investigate satellite photos of a variety of world famous human and natural landmarks (e.g. Eiffel Tower, Victoria Falls).
It is accompanied by two activities:
Speaking and Listening Activity
In mixed pairs or trios, students match the photos of 16 world famous landmarks to their satellite photos, explaining their reasoning as they do so.
Writing Activity
Students investigate satellite photos and write sentences explaining which landmark they think each one is. E.g. “I think this photo is Stonehenge because I can see a circle of huge stones surrounded by grass.”
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.
Our World is a comprehensive Geography topic about Planet Earth, suitable for KS1 and lower KS2 (Y1-3).
The planning overview, topic title page and vocabulary page can be downloaded for free here. Lessons include:
L1 – Completing a world map jigsaw
L2 – Identifying the continents and oceans of the world (FREE)
L3 – Where do we live?
L4 – Identifying human and natural features of the world
L5 – Investigating satellite photos of famous world landmarks
L6 – Introduction to compass directions
L7 – Identifying world climate zones
L8 – Identifying the countries and capitals of the UK (FREE)
Each lesson includes a presentation and differentiated activities/worksheets.
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.
Exploring Spain is a Geography unit suitable for KS2 (Y4-6).
The planning overview, topic title page and vocabulary page can be downloaded for free here. Lessons include:
L1 – Writing a Spain fact file
L2 – Identifying human and physical features of Spain
L3 – Using 8 points of the compass to locate cities in Spain
L4 – Using 4-figure grid references in Spain
L5 – Investigating Spain’s weather and climate
L6 – Taking a tour of Madrid
Optional lesson – Identifying the countries and capital cities of Europe
Each lesson includes a presentation and differentiated activities/worksheets.
If you like this resource, we would appreciate a review! We will happily send you a free resource in return for a review or useful suggestions/feedback. Contact us at ed@teachitforward.co.uk.