Lesson video

Hello, Mrs. Lomas here.

I am a primary school teacher who loves geography.

So I'm very excited to be able to share in your geography lesson today.

So why don't we find out what we're gonna be doing today? So today we are going to be looking at the location and growth of settlements as part of our Settlements unit about where people live and why.

By the end of today's lesson you'll be able to describe and explain some of the reasons why settlements are established and grow.

We have some keywords in today's lesson: settlers, natural resources, crossroads, bridging point and site.

So let's do some my turn, your turn, shall we? Ready? Settlers, natural resources, crossroads, bridging point site.

Well done.

Let's see what those words mean.

So settlers are people who move with a group of others to live in a new location.

Natural resources come from Earth without human influence and can be used for human needs.

A crossroads is the point at which two roads meet and cross each other.

A bridging point is the location on a river where it is possible to make a bridge to connect the two sides.

And a site is the exact location of a place in relation to other nearby places or features.

So keep an eye out for these words in today's lesson.

Today our lesson is split into two parts.

We have Factors affecting the location of settlements and Using maps to identify why settlements develop.

So let's get started with Factors affecting the location of settlements.

So most of our villages, towns and cities have developed over several centuries and much of the evidence of the original settlement has disappeared.

But castles, ancient earthworks, Roman roads and other clues remain.

And here we can see the remains of a Roman occupation in the city of Chester.

So let's do a little check, shall we? True or false? There is no evidence of early settlements in villages, towns, and cities today.

True or false? So I want you to decide if there is no evidence of early settlements in villages, towns, and cities today is true or false.

Pause the video, collect your answers, and then come back and check.

How did you get on? If you said it was false, you would be correct.

And now I would like you to try and justify your answer using either A, all early settlements were destroyed, or B, castle, ancient earthworks, Roman roads, and other clues remain.

So I want you to justify your answer, either using A, all early settlements were destroyed, or B, castles, ancient earthworks, Roman roads, and other clues remain.

Pause the video, collect your answers as a class and then come back and check.

If you'd said B, castles, ancient earthworks, roman roads and other clues remain, then you would be correct.

Well done.

Although there may be few obvious traces of the original settlement, maps can reveal much about the people and culture that created your village, town, or city, as well as about the place itself.

And here we can see a map of Chester.

So the traces that we can see in maps help us to identify the original settlers, as well as to discover what the places might have looked like.

An interesting issue is that subsequent settlers have also chosen the same spot.

This is down to the fact that the original settlers made a good choice.

So here, we've got a map of Chester as it is today.

And then here we have a map of Chester back in the 1890s.

And you can see there was still a sizable settlement on this site over a hundred years ago.

Maps often show historical features that give us clues about a settlement's past.

This site was first settled by the Romans over 2,000 years ago when they invaded Britain.

There is still evidence of these early settlements in Chester today.

There's a Roman amphitheatre, used for entertaining and weapon training.

and this was built around 100 BCE along with Deva, a Roman fortress on the banks of the river Dee.

And long after the fall of the Roman Empire, Chester was still being used as a settlement.

In fact, William the Conqueror founded Chester Castle in 1070, which you can see circled on the map there.

And the cathedral, which started off as an abbey, was built in 1092, over 900 years ago.

Why did the Romans choose to settle on the site where Chester is today? Which factors would've encouraged them to choose this location? Pause the video, have a think.

Collect your ideas as a class and then come back when you're ready.

How did you get on? Let's have a look at some of the factors which settlers might be thinking about when choosing where to settle.

So imagine that you are an early settler arriving in the UK.

There are a number of factors that would help make a good settlement site.

So I think being close to a water supply would be important.

Then you would have water to drink and cook with.

You would also need building materials and firewood.

So I think being near to a supply of wood is important.

Which other factors would help to make a good settlement site? Pause the video, have a think, and then come back and we'll go through some.

These factors will make a good settlement site: a water supply nearby, which is essential for drinking, cooking, washing and crop irrigation.

Being close to building materials.

Wood and stone were traditional materials, used to build houses and with both being heavy, proximity to a natural source was good so you didn't have to carry the heavy goods too far.

Access to wood, building material and fuel for fire,.

Flat land.

It is easier to travel around, build on and grow crops on land which is flat and even.

Protection.

Villages were often attacked by invaders and so siting your settlement on a hill or in the curve of a river made sense.

So if you're at the top of the hill, you can see your enemies coming, can't you? And also it's quite hard work to get to the top of the hill, isn't it? So if you are an invading army, you are gonna be absolutely exhausted by the time you get to the top and have no energy to fight the villagers at the top.

And if you're in the curve of a river, again, you can see what's coming.

You are very protected.

You can keep an eye out for invaders.

Sheltered from weather.

Ensuring that buildings are as warm and as dry as possible.

No one likes to be cold and damp, do they? Near to a bridging point.

Wider rivers would've been impassable, which is good for defence but not if your citizens needed to cross.

So you need an area where it's possible to build a bridge On existing routes or roads.

Siting a settlement at an existing road or crossroad made it much easier to transport goods and natural resources.

And finally, fertile land or animals for hunting.

Early settlers relied on the land for their food.

Whether they were farmers or hunters, being close to good, fertile soil or an abundance of animals would be very important.

So do you think any sites will have all of these factors? And which factors will be the most important for the success of your settlement? Well this is what Task A is all about.

You are going to have some settlement factor cards with all the features, all the factors we saw on the previous slide, and I want you, in your groups, to put them into order from most important factor at the top to least important factor at the bottom.

You might have some you think are on the same level, that's absolutely fine.

You need to make sure you are talking as a group and discussing why you think it's more important or less important.

So have a go and then come back when you are ready.

How did you get on? How did you sort the settlement factors? What was your top priority? Have a discussion as a class and see if you all came up with the same or if you had any different.

Once you've listened to each other's ideas, would you change any of your cards into a different order? Pause the video and come back when you are done.

So now we've looked at Factors affecting the location of settlements, we can have a look at Using maps to identify why settlements developed.

We can look for evidence of factors that make a good settlement site on modern maps.

For example, a water supply nearby.

Here we can see the OS symbols for a lake and a lock or a river.

Close to building materials.

Quarries are pits that are left over from people digging up rocks.

Access to wood.

OS have three types of forest.

Coniferous, non-coniferous and mixed wood.

Flat land.

Contour lines that are far apart show that it is flatter land.

Steep land will have contour lines that are close together.

Protection.

Is it on a hill or in the curve of a river? Near to a bridging point.

A bridge or a forge to cross a river.

On existing route or roads.

So is the site near to a crossroads? Contour lines are lines that join up areas of equal height or elevation above sea level on a map.

The number written on the contour line tells you the height above sea level in metres.

On this OS map, the gap between the contour lines is far apart, meaning the land is flat or is on a very gentle slope.

In the second map extract, the contour lines are much closer together, meaning the land is increasing in height over a much shorter distance and will be steep.

I would like you to complete these sentences.

Height on an OS map is measured as metres above.

Contour lines join areas of.

height.

If contour lines are far apart, the land is.

And finally, if contour lines are close together, then the land is.

So, have a go.

Pause the video, come back when you're ready to check your answers.

How did you get on? Height on an OS map is measured on metres, sorry.

Height on an OS map is measured as metres above sea level.

Contour lines join areas of equal height.

If contour lines are far apart, the land is flat, and if contour lines are close together, then the land is steep.

Well done.

So for Task B, I want you to use the map extract of Alnwick in Northumberland to identify the positive factors in this settlement site.

Annotate your map and write a summary of all the factors that you find.

You might want to all have a look at the map together first and have a look at the root of the river Aln and its mouth at Alnmouth.

And maybe even pick out a few notable places such as Alnwick Castle.

So you are going to use the map extract of Alnwick in Northumberland to identify the positive factors in this settlement site.

Annotate your map and write a summary of all the factors that you find.

Pause the video and come back when you you're ready.

How did you get on? Did you find all of these positive factors on your map of Alnwick? There's flat land.

Alnwick and the land to the east have contour lines that are far apart.

This means the land is flat and is therefore easier to build on.

Near to a bridging point.

Alnwick has several bridging points across the river Aln.

Protection.

It is sited in the bend of the river, which would've provided some protection from hostile tribes.

Access to wood.

There are large areas of mixed woodland to the northwest of Alnwick, that could have been used as a supply of fuel.

Close to building materials.

A quarry to the northeast of Alnwick could have supplied the stone needed to build.

Water supply nearby.

The town of Alnwick is situated on the banks of the river Aln and this could have provided water for drinking, washing and cooking.

On existing route or roads.

Today, Alnwick is on the A1, a major road that runs from the south of England to Scotland.

Historically, it was also close to major routes as the north/south running Roman Road known as the Devil's Causeway, passes about seven miles to the west of Alnwick.

So in summary.

Many settlements have long histories on sites chosen for access to natural resources, for protection or the availability of land suitable for building.

Settlements start, grow, and change on different sites and in different locations for many reasons.

And factors influencing early settlement choices are seen on the right, such as having a water supply nearby, being close to building materials, having access to wood, flat land, protection, being near to a bridging point, or on an existing route or roads.

Well done on all your hard work today.

Wasn't it interesting to find out why people might choose to build a settlement? Maybe now when you go out for a wander or a walk around where you live, you might be able to spot reasons why people built the settlement where it is, and you might even spot some ancient ruins or some old Roman roads.

Anyway, don't forget to do the exit quiz just to see if there's anything you need to recap on before next lesson.

And I will see you soon.

Bye.