Lesson video

Hi geographers, my name is Mr. Loledge.

I'm so excited to be learning with you today.

We're gonna have a fantastic time.

Today's lesson is called the UK's Peaks.

And that's from our unit, Mountains and Volcanoes: What, Where and Why? Some of our learning is tricky today, but I'm here to help and we can learn together.

Let's get started.

By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to name and locate the UK's highest peaks and use OS maps to identify major physical and human features of Yr Wyddfa.

Let's get started.

The keywords we will be using today are key, contour lines, and trig point.

The key on a map explains what the different symbols or colours used on the map mean.

Contour lines are lines on a map that join parts of equal height above or below sea level.

A trig point is a point on high ground, usually marked by a pillar and use as a reference point, especially for making maps.

Our lesson today will be split into two parts.

The first part is what are the UK's highest peaks? The second part is how do maps represent mountains? Let's begin with our first section.

What are the UK's highest peaks? The United Kingdom is made up of four countries.

Do you know what they are? They are Scotland, which is the northern most country in the UK.

Northern Ireland, Wales, and England.

Within the UK, there are many mountains.

You may know some of them, but we're going to talk about the highest ones in each country within the UK.

The highest mountains in Scotland is Ben Nevis and that's near the town of Fort William.

Its summit is 1,344 metres above sea level, which also makes it the highest mountain in the UK.

Ben Nevis is located in the Grampian mountain range.

The Grampians account for half of all the land area in Scotland.

A Munro is the Scottish term for a mountain over 3000 feet, which is 914.

4 metres.

When you climb a Scottish mountain, you bag a Munro.

Have you ever bagged a Munro? I like the sound of that.

The majority of the UK's mountains are located in Scotland, 282 in fact.

And the four highest peaks in the UK are also in Scotland.

The highest mountain Northern Ireland is Slieve Donard.

It's summit is 850 metres above sea level, that means its summit is 494 metres lower than the summit of Ben Nevis.

Slieve Donard is located in the Mourne mountain range.

Interestingly, the mountain was named after Saint Donard, a disciple of St.

Patrick who built a prayer cell at its summit during the fifth century.

Okay, we've got our first check for understanding here.

What is the highest mountain in Scotland called? Is it A, Slieve Donard? B, Yr Wydfa? Or C, Ben Nevis? Pause the video now to see if you can answer that question.

Welcome back.

The highest mountain in Scotland is called Ben Nevis.

Well done if you answered that correctly.

We've also learned that the highest mountain in Northern Ireland is Slieve Donard.

The highest mountain in Wales is called Yr Wyddfa pronounced with uhr with va.

And that translates to Mount Snowdon in English.

Yr Wyddfa's summit is 1,085 metres above sea level.

Yr Wyddfa is located in the Snowdonia National Park.

Every year 600,000 people hike up Yr Wyddfa.

Wow, that's a lot of people.

Interestingly, at the summit of Snowdon there is a cafe and that makes it the highest cafe in the UK.

There's also a railway that runs up the side of the mountain, which takes visitors to the summit.

The highest mountain in England is called Scafell Pike.

Scafell Pike's summit is 987 metres above sea level.

And we can see it there.

Scafell Pike is located in the Lake District National Park in Cumbria.

Over 250,000 people climb Scafell Pike every year.

Even though it's not the highest UK mountain, Scafell Pike's steep, rocky terrain make it a challenging climb.

Okay, we've got another check for understanding here.

Can you name this mountain and the country it is located in? Pause the video now so you can answer that question.

Well done.

It is Yr Wyddfa or Mount Snowdon and that's the highest mountain in Wales.

Got another check for understanding.

What is the highest mountain in England called? Is it A, Scafell Pike? B, Ben Nevis? Or C, Slieve Donard? Pause the video now so you can answer that question.

Welcome back.

The highest mountain in England is Scafell Pike, but we've also learned the highest mountain in Scotland is Ben Nevis.

And the highest mountain in Ireland is Slieve Donard.

And also, the highest mountain in Wales is Yr Wyddfa, which translates to Mount Snowdon.

Well done.

That brings us to our first task.

Can you complete the sentences by filling in the gaps using the words Scafell Pike, 1,085, Scotland, Yr Wyddfa, highest, Grampian, Munros, Mount Snowdon, and Lake District.

I'll read it out for you.

The highest mountain in mmm is called Ben Nevis and it's also the mmm in the UK.

Mountains in Scotland are also referred to as mmm.

The highest mountain in Wales is called mmm, which translates to mmm in English.

Yr Wyddfa is mmm metres above sea level.

The highest mountain in England is called mmm.

It is located in the mmm national park.

The highest mountain in Northern Ireland is called Slieve Donard And it is located in the mmm national park.

Pause the video now.

See if you can complete that filling in the gaps activity.

Good luck.

Okay, welcome back.

Does your work read like this? The highest mountain in Scotland is called Ben Nevis and it is also the highest mountain in the UK.

Mountains in Scotland are also referred to as Munros.

And remember when you climb a mountain in Scotland, you bag a Munro.

The highest mountain in Wales is called Yr Wyddfa, which translates to Mount Snowdon in English.

Yr Wyddfa is 1,085 metres above sea level.

The highest mountain in England is called Scafell Pike.

It is located in the Lake District National Park.

The highest mountain in Northern Ireland is called Slieve Donard and it is located in the Grampian National Park.

Well done if you managed to get all of that correct.

Fantastic learning.

That now brings us onto the second part of our learning today.

How do maps represent mountains? In this second part of our lesson, we are going to use Yr Wyddfa, Mount Snowdon as an example to help us learn.

Let us get going.

OS maps are two dimensional representations of a three dimensional world.

By looking at OS maps, we could understand more about the physical and human geography of a location and make informed decisions like what route to take or what equipment to bring when out in the mountains.

And there we have Yr Wyddfa located on our map.

All maps include a key or a legend so that we understand what symbols on a map mean.

Without these we wouldn't be able to read or interpret a map and the symbols wouldn't make any sense to us.

Have a pause of the video now to look through the key shown on this slide.

Okay, welcome back.

We've got another check for understanding here.

Can you find the symbol for a lake? And then can you find the symbol for a cliff? Pause the video now to see if you can find those two symbols.

Let's take a look, shall we? There they are.

That's the symbol for the lake.

And there's the symbol for a cliff.

Well done if you spotted them.

Parts of our learning outcome for today was to use OS maps to identify major physical and human features of Yr Wyddfa.

but what do we mean by human and physical geography? Human geography refers to anything that has been built by humans.

For example, roads, bridges, and shops.

Here we can see Snowdon railway on an OS map and in real life, so the railway is human geography because it's been built by humans.

Physical geography refers to anything that has been made naturally.

For example, cliffs, rivers, and lakes.

Here we can see a river, a lake, and a cliff.

They have all been made naturally.

Okay, we've got another check for understanding here.

Can you tell your partner the difference between human and physical geography? Pause the video now to complete that check for understanding.

Welcome back.

Did you tell your partner that human geography is anything built by humans? An example of human geography are roads, bridges, and shops.

Physical geography is anything made naturally.

For example, cliffs, rivers, and lakes.

Well done if you completed that.

We know that the summit of Snowdon is 1,085 metres high and you can see it on the map there.

A triangulation pillar or trig point as they're commonly called, identifies the summit of mountains.

Can you spot the symbol that identifies the summit? Pause the video now to see if you can identify the symbol for a trig point on this map of Snowdon.

Welcome back.

There it is.

It's a trig point is identified as a blue triangle with a dot in the middle.

Well done if you managed to spot that.

Contour lines are used to show us the height of the land and the gradient, which just means how steep it is.

Here the land is marked as 550 metres above sea level.

In mountain regions, contour lines are commonly spaced every 10 metres apart, so if that contour line marks the height of 550 metres, the next one going up towards the summits of Snowdon will be 560 metres and so on.

The closer the contour lines are together, the steeper the terrain.

Here we can see the terrain by Llyn Glas which translates as blue lake will be relatively flat.

This knowledge might help me if I want to camp, for instance.

As to pitch a tent for a good night's sleep, the ground needs to be reasonably flat.

The terrain below the summit of Snowdon will be very steep with potentially dangerous cliffs around it.

I don't think I'd want to walk up that way if I wanted to reach Snowdon Summit.

Okay, let's just think about that one again.

What do you think the land will be like here? One student says we'd expect the land here to be very steep as the contour lines are close together.

She's right.

And what do you think the terrain will be like here? Another student says we can expect the land here to be relatively flat as the contour lines are far apart, he's also right.

Okay, we're on to our second task for today.

Can you answer these questions from the information you've learned? I'll read them out for you.

What do contour lines show us? What is the height of the land here? What are the features can you see on this map? Is each one a human feature or a physical feature? Pause the video now to complete that task.

Welcome back.

Let's go through each question one by one, see if you've got the correct answers.

What do contour lines show us? Contour lines show us the height and gradient of the land.

What is the height of the land here? The height of the land there is 570 metres above sea level and that's because it's two contour lines up from the 550 metre mark contour line we can see there.

What other features can you see on this map? I can see physical features including a lake, rivers, and a cliff.

Is each one a human feature or a physical feature? I can see human features including a footpath, a mine, and a station.

That takes us to the end of our lesson today.

Let us quickly summarise our learning.

We've learned that the UK's highest peaks are Ben Nevis in Scotland, Yr Wyddfa in Wales, Scafell Pike in England, Slieve Donard in Northern Ireland.

We've also learned that OS maps depict key mountain features.

For example, the height of land, the gradient, footpaths, and tourist attractions.

Well done for all your hard work today.

You've been fantastic.

I hope to see you again soon for some more fantastic geography.

Bye.