Lesson video

Hello, I'm Mrs. Lomas and I'm a primary school teacher that loves geography.

So today I'm very excited to be joining you to learn all about geography in your lesson today.

I hope you're as excited as I am.

Let's get going.

So today we're going to be looking at some key features of our local area.

And by the end of today's lesson you'll be able to describe what the local area is like where you live, and name some jobs that people do there.

So let's get going.

There are some key words for today's lesson.

So we have marshes, island, village, holiday park, and nature reserve.

Should we do my turn, your turn? Marshes.

Island.

Village.

Holiday park.

Nature reserve.

Well done.

Why don't you keep an eye out for those words in today's lesson? So, today our lesson is in two parts.

Firstly, we'll look at what is our local area like? And secondly, what kind of jobs do people do here? So let's get started with what is our local area like? We know lots about where we live because we live there.

We can also use photographs and maps to check out extra information and think like geographers.

So I want you to have a think, what is it like where we live? And also, how can we find out any extra information? I want you to have a class discussion and then pause the video and come back once you are done.

How did you get on? Maybe some of you mention different things to other people in your class because maybe you live in slightly different areas, or you prefer going to the park, whereas your friend prefers going to the cinema.

It's interesting, isn't it, how different people can have different views of the same place.

So let's have a little check, shall we? I'm going to choose two.

And what can we use to find out about our local area? Okay, so you're going to choose two options for me today.

A maps, B drawings, or C photographs.

So what can we use to find out about our local area? Choose two.

Pause the video and come back to check your answer.

If you said A, maps and C, photographs, you were correct.

Well done.

Maps give us clues about the local area.

So let's have a look at that in a bit more detail, shall we? Our school is shown by a red marker right here, okay? So let's see what clues we might get from this map.

Well, firstly we can see that Sheppey, where our school is, is an island.

How do we know this? I want you to have a little think about this before we move on to the next slide.

So you can have a talk to your talk partners if you want, but have a little think.

How do we know, looking at this map, that Sheppey is an island? Okay, have a little think, pause the video, and come back, and we'll have a look at some answers.

Okay.

Well, I've got three options for an answer for you here.

We know Sheppey is an island because A, you can get to it by train.

B, it is surrounded by water.

Or C, it is in the southeast of the UK.

Maybe your answer isn't one of these options, so you might want to have another little think.

How do we know that Sheppey is an island? A, because you can get to it by train.

B, because it is surrounded by water.

Or C, because it is in the southeast of the UK.

Pause the video and come back and check your answer in a moment.

If you'd said B, it is surrounded by water, you would be correct.

And you can see that really clearly on the map, can't you, here? There is water going all the way around, that blue water going all the way around the green and white island of Sheppey.

So, can you see that there are some roads on the map? They are shown in yellow and white.

And they're windy lines, aren't they, going around the island? Where do the roads go? I want you to have a little think, explore the map, pause the video, and come back and check your answer in a moment.

So where do they go, the roads? How did you get on? You can see on this map that the map shows towns, like Sheerness, and villages like Minster on Sea and East Church, and that is where the roads go, isn't it? They go to and from lots of different towns and villages and off the island, back onto the mainland as well, okay? Over the Kingsferry Bridge, okay? So, you can't get to a town or village, can you, if there's not a road to get you there.

There are also some nature reserves too, on our island.

You've got three nature reserves here.

A nature reserve is a protected part of the island, or it's a protected area of land where nature, so plants and animals, are allowed to grow.

So there won't be any main roads built through it.

There won't be any big shopping centres built.

It's just so that the nature, the trees, the plants, the animals, the ponds, the lakes, the rivers, they can all exist without being interrupted.

So they're very protected areas, and sometimes lots of people like to visit them as well, to see all the wonderful nature.

So that's what we could see on our map.

But here we have an aerial view map, which is a photograph taken from above by an aeroplane or a satellite.

So a satellite are those machines that go around the Earth in an orbit in space, and they have super, super, super powerful cameras, and they can take a photograph from space of Earth.

So an aerial view map is sometimes called a bird's-eye view because it gives us the view a bird would have if it was flying.

So an aerial view, or a bird's-eye view are the same thing.

I want you to have a look at an aerial view and an Ordnance Survey map and can you see how is it the same and how is it different to an Ordnance Survey map? So, how is an aerial view map the same and how is it different to an Ordnance Survey map? Pause the video now and collect your ideas as a class.

How did you get on? Did you notice that on a map some of the colours aren't very realistic, are they? Yes, if you've got bright red roads, okay, whereas an aerial view photograph has more realistic colours, doesn't it? Okay.

Are there any symbols on an aerial view map? There aren't, are there? There's lots of symbols, though, on a Ordnance Survey map, aren't there.

I wonder what else you came up with? So, let's do a little check.

What does an aerial view show us? Is it A, a bird.

B, an aeroplane.

Or C, a view from above? Pause the video and collect your answers now.

if you said that an aerial view shows us a view from above, you would be correct.

Well done.

So let's have a look at an aerial view of our local area.

You can see our school is marked there with the red marker.

Here we can see a road, can't we? And that road goes past the school, doesn't it? And here you can see some housing.

Now can anyone remember what direction on our compass that is? That's up on the north, isn't it, of our island.

Can you see much housing down on the south of the island? I can't see any housing down there, or many buildings at all.

I can see some farmland to the east.

And I can see that is farmland because I can see lots of patchwork fields.

Looks like patchwork, doesn't it? So you've got lots of rectangles and squares, lots of green colours and brown colours, okay? And to go back to the housing at the top, quite often you can tell it's housing because you've got little brown squares all around the same road quite, often there's the same size and shape and we'll have a garden in the back as well.

And down to the south here I can see some waterways.

There's a river there, isn't there? Okay.

And over to the east we've got the beach, and you can see it's a nice sandy beach from the colour, can't you? You can see there's all the different shades of greens and browns on the land.

And then the sea is more of a single, almost like a smoosh of colours, rather than separate colours.

And then you've got the beach in between the two that's that bright yellow sand colour, isn't it? And finally, right down at the south you've got some mud flats.

And they look a muddy colour, don't they? So you can tell it's not a beach because it's not the same colour as the sand.

So that was looking at an aerial view.

But let's have a look at an Ordnance Survey map now.

Now Ordnance Survey maps are a picture of a place drawn from above.

They help us find our way around.

All Ordnance Survey, or OS maps for short, use the same symbols, which are put in a key, so that people using the map know what each symbol represents.

So I don't know if you remember if you've looked at an Ordnance Survey map before, but train stations are a red dot, aren't they? 'Cause if you just wrote "train station, train station, train station" all over your map, you wouldn't have much space for anything else.

So you have a red dot, and that means train stations.

And then in the key, down the side usually, of your map or somewhere on your map, it will have this red dot symbol and next to it it will say "train station" so that you know what it means.

And you can also see that an OS map has lines to split it into sections as well.

So let's have a little think.

An Ordnance Survey map cannot help us to A, see where people live.

B, see what the weather will be like.

C, notice different features in the landscape.

Or D, find our way around.

So what can an Ordnance Survey map not help us to do? Pause the video, collect your answers, and come back and check in a moment.

If you said that an Ordnance Survey map cannot help us to see what the weather will be like, you were correct.

Well done.

So now we know what an Ordnance Survey map can't do.

What can it help us to do? A, find and locate different features.

B, see what the weather will be like.

C, find ratings for the local takeaway.

D, see if there are any traffic jams. So what do you think? What can an Ordnance Survey map help us to do? Collect your answers, pause the video, and come back in a moment to check.

If you said that an Ordnance Survey map can help us to find and locate different features, you were correct, well done.

So let's have a look at a map view now, of our local area.

Okay.

So here we can see the beach, can't we? And that goes all the way around the north of the island and again around the east.

And also it goes into the mud flats, doesn't it, on the south of our island.

It's very clear to see, isn't it, on an Ordnance Survey map because you've got the white land, the sand-colored sand, and the blue ocean, haven't you? Here we can see there's a village.

I can see quite a lot of villages, and they're all around the northern side of the island, aren't they? I can't really see many villages or buildings in the south of the island.

So maybe most people.

Not, maybe they do.

Most people live in the northern part of the island.

Here we can see there is a farm.

And all the way down here are marshes.

And we'll have a look at a picture of some marshes in a bit, okay? You can see the marshes have got lots of waterways, haven't you? Haven't they, even going through them? So that might tell you what marshes are like if they've got lots of waterways going through them.

And here we can see, in the south of the island, a nature reserve near the mud flats, if we remember from our aerial view.

And right up at the north, next to the beach, we've got a holiday park.

So, let's have a look.

Here we've got the marsh and some farmland.

Got two pictures there.

I want you to have a discussion about what is the same, and what is different, between marsh and farmland.

Pause the video and come back and check your answers.

How did you get on? Hopefully you notice that there was lots of water in the marshes, okay? So, marshes are very wet areas of land.

Farmland is much drier because otherwise all the tractors would sink, wouldn't they, if they were going across the marshland because if it's wet and boggy it's not very strong farmland.

Also you've got a fence around it, haven't you? The crops, the plants that you can see, have been planted there on purpose by a farmer, often in quite neat rows.

Whereas a marshland is a natural landscape.

So, the plants will just, the seeds will be spread naturally and it will just grow.

And there's not any fences either, are there? Either are there? There aren't many fences there, either.

And now we've got a holiday park and a beach.

I want you to have a little chat about what you can see in these pictures.

What features can you see in a holiday park, and what features can you see by the beach? And do you think you do the same thing at the holiday park as the beach, or do you think they're a little bit different? Pause the video now and then come back in a moment to check your answers.

How did you get on? I can already see that there are a lot of buildings.

These are caravans, aren't they, at the holiday park, but there aren't any actually on the beach.

So a holiday park might be built next to or near a beach, but it won't ever be built on the beach 'cause the tide would come in and wash all the sand away, and then your caravan might start to sink.

With a holiday park, there's usually lots and lots of caravans and that's where people often go to stay so that they can be near the beach when they're on holiday.

Okay, which statement about marshes on Sheppey is not true? A, they are wet places.

B, they are flat places.

C, some have reserves.

D, they are mostly covered with housing.

So, which statement is not true? Collect your answers and then come back and check in a moment.

If you said that they are mostly covered with housing is not true, you would be correct because again, marshes are very wet and the houses would just sink if you built them there, which would be a bit of a silly thing to do, wouldn't it? Okay.

And where do people mostly live on Sheppey? Is it A the north side of the island? B, the south side of the island.

C, everywhere.

Or D, the east side of the island.

If you are not sure, you could always have a quick look at the map, couldn't you? Or one of the aerial view photographs.

How did you get on? If you said A, the north side of the island, you were correct, well done.

So this is our first task.

You're going to use your map to tell your partner about the local area.

Don't forget to use your compass directions of north, east, south, and west, and look carefully at the map for what symbols you can see.

what words can you see, and look at the colours as well 'cause they help too, don't they? When you've had a go, come back and we'll see how you did.

How did you get on? How did you describe your local area? What features did you mention? Did you mention any of these words, housing, holiday park, flat, farmland, marshes, nature reserve, beach.

Well done if you did.

Okay, so let's move on to the second part of our lesson.

Now we know what the local area is like.

Let's find out what kind of jobs do people do here.

So, there are quite a lot of jobs for people looking after the holiday makers on Sheppey.

Most jobs are available in the summer, but because of the nature reserves, some people like to visit all the year around.

So, because of the nature reserves, you don't just get tourists in the summer, you get a lot of tourists in the summer going to the holiday park and going to the beaches, but some people do come at other times of the year.

And lots and lots of jobs are elated to helping those people that do come on holiday to Sheppey.

So, here we can see four photos.

What jobs do you think these people do? Have a little think and come back and check your answers in a moment.

How did you get on? Let's find out, shall we? So this person is Richard, and his job title is a handy person.

And he says, "The best thing about my job is the views are amazing and there is lots of wildlife about.

And on a typical day I could be fixing a leaky tap, painting, cutting the grass, or mending a broken chair." Did you guess that one correctly? So what does Richard think is the best thing about his job? A, cutting the grass.

B, the views.

Or C, fixing leaky taps.

If you said B, the views, you were correct.

Well done.

So, this is Jerry and his job title is lifeboat crew.

So he works on a lifeboat.

And he says, "The best thing about my job is rescuing people who are frightened and taking them to safety.

And on a typical day I can be called out at any time of the day or night to help rescue people trapped on cliffs, stuck in mud, or in the water." Okay, so let's see about this one.

Why is a lifeboat crew member an important job on Sheppey? A, because Sheppey has marshes.

B, because Sheppey is surrounded by sea.

Or C, because Sheppey has farmland.

How did you get on? If you said B, because Sheppey is surrounded by sea, you would be correct, well done.

So this is Sally, and she's a community artist.

"On a typical day I might be in a school painting a mural or making a sculpture from recycled materials with school children.

The best thing about my job is I get to work with different people in the community." And then finally, this is Sharon and she's a produce selector.

"On a typical day I check food deliveries to make sure they are fresh before they are sent to the shops for customers to buy.

The best thing about my job is knowing that I have played a small part in making fresh food available for the public to buy." Okay, I now want you to see if you can match the job to the picture.

So your job choices are community artist, lifeboat crew, produce selector, and handyman.

Match those to the picture.

Pause the video now and come back and check for the answers in a moment.

How did you get on? Let's see, shall we? So there's the community artist, lifeboat crew, produce selector, and finally the handy person.

Well done.

So, task two is for you to find out about a job someone does in your local area.

You need to find out their name, their job title.

You need to find out what they do on a typical day, and what the best thing about their job is.

See if you can find some different ones to the ones you might have seen in the video today.

Or you might find some jobs that are the same as the ones we saw today.

So pause the video, and when you've done your task, come back and we'll have a look.

Okay, I hope you found lots of exciting jobs in your local area.

So let's have a little summary of the key features of our local area.

So here we've got an aerial view, haven't we? And we spotted some housing, some waterways, some mud flats, a road, farmland, and a beach.

And we looked carefully at the different compass directions, didn't we? We see that most of the housing was in the northern part of the island, and a lot of the nature reserves were to the south of the island.

Well done, everybody.

What fantastic geographical learning you did today.

I'm very impressed with all your feature spotting.

So, don't forget to have a go at the exit quiz just so that you can see if there's anything you just need a little bit more help with.

And you can also show off how much you've learned today.

I had a really good time.

I hope you did too.

And I will see you very soon for the next lesson.

Bye-Bye.