Lesson video

Hi there.

I'm Ms. Roberts, and I'm here today to take you through another exciting geography lesson about coasts.

A coast is where the land meets the sea, and this unit of work is investigating what happens at the coast.

Today's lesson is all about how we map the coast.

Let's get started.

By the end of the lesson today, you will be able to use maps as well as other sources of information to recognise, to locate, and to describe a range of coastal features that we can find here in the UK.

We're going to begin by taking a look at some keywords that will be very helpful to you during this lesson.

There are three keywords for today, and the first two of those keywords are types of features.

We have human features, and we have physical features.

A human feature is something that humans have constructed, made, or built.

A physical feature is something that is natural.

It has not been formed or made in any way by humans.

And the final key term that will be very useful for you later in this lesson is land use.

Land use describes what we do in a particular area, so that's what is the function or the purpose of that place.

In the first part, we're going to be investigating what it is like at the coast, and we'll be looking at some of the human and physical features that we find there.

Then, we will move on to explore how maps can help us to identify coastal features.

So let's get started with our first part of the lesson.

What is it like at the coast? Here, we can see the UK.

We know that the UK is an island.

It's actually made up of two main islands, and lots and lots of smaller islands, so this means that the UK has a very large coastline.

Hmm.

How long do you think the coastline of the UK is in kilometres? Hmm.

Shall I reveal the answer? The coastline of the UK, that includes all of England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, is around about 12,429 kilometres long.

That doesn't include any of the hundreds of smaller, tiny islands around the UK.

If we included them too, the distance would actually be closer to an enormous 31,000 kilometres.

That's amazing.

To give you an idea and some comparison for this, here are the lengths of the coastline of some other European countries.

You can find each of these on the map.

The coastline of Italy is 7,600 kilometres long.

The coastline of Spain is just under 5,000 kilometres at 4,964, and the coastline of France is 3,427 kilometres.

So the UK coastline is longer than all three of the coastlines of those other nations.

So you can see just how much of our nation is defined by the places where the land meets the sea, the coast.

An amazing fact about the coastline of the UK is that if we wanted to, we could actually walk around almost the entire length of it.

In fact, in the year 1978, one man decided to do just that.

John Merrill was the first person who completed a walk around the entire UK coastline.

This amazing adventure took him 10 months to complete.

I think that's pretty amazing, and Sam does too.

"Wow!," she says.

"Imagine walking around the whole of our coast.

"Just think of all the amazing sights "that John must have seen on his adventure." I think Sam is definitely right.

He will have seen some beautiful coastal features on his walk.

Let's look at some of those coastal features together now.

On his way around the coastline, John Merrill will have walked past many physical coastal features.

So you remember physical features are those that are not created or built by humans.

These are natural features.

We can see some physical features here in this photograph.

Starting with the cliffs.

We can also see a headland.

A headland is also a cliff, but in this case, a headland sticks out further into the sea than other parts of cliff do, and a headland is surrounded by water on three sides.

We can also see a beach, and we can see a curved shape here, which tells us that this is a bay.

A bay is an inlet of the sea, where the land curves inwards.

Here is a map that shows some more coastal features.

On this map, we can see something called a spit.

A spit is a very long, narrow piece of land.

They can be made of pebbles and sand, and they are attached to the mainland at one end.

The spit that is shown on this map is called Spurn Point.

We can also identify an estuary on this map.

An estuary is the wide tidal mouth of a river where it meets the sea or an ocean.

The estuary here is where the River Humber meets the North Sea on the northeast coast of England.

Another natural feature of some coastal areas is a salt marsh.

A salt marsh is a very muddy place.

This is an area in between land and water.

It's a place that regularly gets flooded when the tide comes in, and whilst salty water from the sea would kill most plants, there are some special types of plants that really enjoy the saltiness, and these grow in huge quantities in salt marshes.

As well as salt marshes at the coast, we may find mudflats.

A mudflat is a very sticky area of very wet mud.

It's always near the sea, and when the high tide comes in, we can't even see that it's there.

Both of these features are usually found where there is an estuary.

Let's have a brief stop here to check our understanding so far.

Here is a multiple choice question.

You can see a map, and there are three coastal features labelled A, B, and C.

I want you to identify which of those is the estuary.

Have you decided? The correct answer here is A.

Did you identify A as the estuary? Good work.

B, Spurn Point, is the spit, and area C on this map, I can tell you, is actually a mudflat.

Okay, we've seen some physical features along the coast now, so let's have a look at some human features as well.

John Merrill would've seen lots of human features like these on his walk.

You may have seen some of these features as well.

Have you ever seen a lighthouse? A lighthouse is a very tall, round tower, and it has automated flashing lights at the top of it.

Those lights are intended to guide sailors or to warn them where there are dangers, such as rocks sticking out of the sea.

The lighthouse here in the picture is a lighthouse on St Mary's Island in Whitley Bay.

Another human feature that we can see in many coastal areas is a pier.

This picture shows us Brighton Pier, which is in the south of England.

A pier is a very long platform which is built on stilts or pillars, and it sticks out into the sea.

It's often used as a place of entertainment because things can be built on top of the pier, like a theatre even, or amusement arcades, and piers always have plenty of benches where people can sit and look out at the beautiful views of the sea.

Another human feature of many coastal areas is a harbour.

Here's a picture of a harbour.

A harbour is a nice, sheltered part of the coast, and this makes it safe for people who use boats to moor there and anchor safely.

That means they can park up their boats and leave them there without worrying too much about them getting damaged.

This is a photograph of a harbour in a small coastal village in Wales.

Another human feature that we can see often in coastal areas is a port.

Ports and harbours are very similar, but ports are much, much bigger.

They are both places where boats can come and go.

Ports usually have a specific purpose.

The picture here shows a container port.

That's somewhere that lots of trade by ship takes place.

Places that are on the coast, on rivers, or even near large lakes where boats can stop and unload people and cargo usually develop into ports.

Let's have a quick stop now and check our understanding of these human features.

Here is another multiple choice question for you.

I'm going to read a definition, and I want you to decide whether it is a definition of a harbour, a port, or a lighthouse.

What is a sheltered part of the coast where ships and boats can anchor safely? Have you decided? Hey, let's see the answer.

The answer is, of course, A.

A harbour is a sheltered part of the coast where ships and boats can anchor safely.

Well done.

I think it's time for us to do an activity together now.

This is Task A.

Here, you have some more definitions of coastal features that you have heard about so far in this lesson, but what are they? Can you name them? I would like you to read each definition and write down the name of the coastal feature that is described.

Pause the video to complete the activity, and remember, you can work with a geography buddy for extra support.

Ready? Good job.

Let's have a look at the answers together.

Make sure that you got your features in the right place.

So to begin with, a long, narrow stretch of pebbles and sand that is attached to the mainland at one end is a spit.

The wide tidal mouth of a river is an estuary.

Then, we have salt marsh, which is that muddy area between the land and the salt water.

And finally, we have a mudflat.

That's the flat area of very wet mud near the sea.

And remember, when the high tide comes in, we can't even see that mudflats are there.

Okay, let's move now into the second part of our lesson, and look at how maps can help us to identify coastal features.

This is a map of a coastal area in the UK.

As Sam points out, when John Merrill made his walk around the UK coastline, he must have used a map to see what coastal features he was going to meet along the way.

Maps help us to identify coastal features, both human and physical.

So let's look now together at how we can do just that.

The first thing we need to think about when we are using maps to identify coastal features is the map symbols that are used.

Map symbols are very small pictures, colours, patterns, or shapes that represent various real life, human, or physical features.

The symbol is placed on the map in the precise location where those features are found.

We're going to look at some map symbols together now.

Here is a map symbol for a cliff.

Can you see how it looks like a picture of some craggy rocks? Another symbol is for marshes, reeds, or saltings.

So these are areas like the salt marshes and the mudflats that we were just discussing before.

This symbol tells us that a beach is made of shingle.

Shingle is a word for small pebbles and stones.

Remember, not all beaches are sandy.

And here, we have another symbol, which is mud.

This is when there is no sand.

There's no plants.

This is just sticky, wet mud.

And if we recognise this, then we'd be very careful to avoid the area, unless we want to end up stuck in the mud.

Human features are also shown in map symbols.

Let's look at some of those together now.

Let's see.

The first is a lighthouse.

That looks just like a small picture of a lighthouse with the flashing light on the top.

The next is a slipway.

Hmm.

Look at the picture.

Can you think what a slipway might be? What clues does the map symbol give you? Did you notice that the symbol has a boat on it, and that that boat is on a slope, and it has a wheel there underneath? Slipways are places where a slope is constructed or built from the land to the water, so that boats can be kept beside a harbour, for example, and then when they are ready to be taken out to sea, they are wheeled down the slipway and released into the water.

And here's another symbol.

We often see these out at sea on the edges of our coastlines.

There are a lot of these near where I live because we have strong winds that come off the Irish Sea.

These are wind turbines.

Coastal locations are great for wind turbines because they're so windy.

The names of places on maps can also give us clues about the coastal features.

This is because many places, especially around the coast, are actually named because of their landscapes.

So for example, any places that have point or head in their name will probably be a headland.

This line here is pointing to a place on this map called Brown's Point.

Brown's Point is a headland.

Any places that have cove or bay in their name usually are found near a bay.

Here, we can see King Edward's Bay is labelled on this map.

Do you know of any places that have point or head in the name? How about any places with cove or bay? Perhaps you could do some research and try and find out five of each.

Let's move on now and look at another map together.

This is a map of another coastal area, and I would like you now not to look at the symbols, but to look only at the shape of the coastline.

What shape can you see? Do you see a coastline that is very, very straight? Or do you see a coastline that is very curved? Or do you see a coastline that is very jagged? The shape of coastlines give us many clues about what that coast is like in real life.

Coastlines that are nice and smooth, or almost straight, like the one in this map, are usually where beaches can be found.

The sticky out bits, those jaggedy areas, you can see some more jaggedy areas at the lower half of this map, those are the places where we are gonna find headlands and rocks and cliffs.

Let's pause here and have a quick check for understanding about how we can use maps to identify coastal features.

This is actually a place in the northeast of Scotland.

What features can you find on the map? There are lots of them.

Remember to look at shapes, look at patterns, look at place names, and look at symbols on the map.

Now, remember, you can always work with a geography buddy or in a small group for some extra support.

Pause the video here, and discuss what you can identify on this map.

Welcome back.

There were lots and lots of clues and things to find on this map, weren't there? I'm gonna show you some of them now.

Let's start on the left side of the map.

Did you all find the lighthouse here at Dunnet Head? Well done.

There is a headland here as well at Briga Head.

The clue is in the name of the place.

Remember, places that have head are usually a headland.

Then, we can see Dunnet Bay.

Remember, bay is an inlet of the sea where the land curves in.

There is also a lot of mud on this coastline, and we know that because of the grey shading across that area.

Of course, it's not all mud, because we can also see some lovely yellow sandy beaches like this one.

Let's move over to the right-hand side of the map.

Did you find another lighthouse over there? Well done.

This time, the lighthouse is on a small island called Stroma.

On the right-hand side of the map, there are also lots and lots of other headlands.

Now, on this map, there are lots of other symbols that I haven't shown to you yet.

I wonder if you found out what any of those were.

There are symbols here for caravan parks, there are symbols for a museum, and there are symbols for viewpoints.

Viewpoints are places where you can go and see some spectacular scenery and take photographs.

Okay, so land use.

Do you remember that we mentioned land use as a keyword earlier? Land use is the purpose of an area.

What is it used for? The UK coastline has a great diversity of features, and this means that the land can be used in many different ways.

Land at the coast can be used as a port, for example, or as a naval base.

It can be used for tourism.

It can even be used for food that we obtain through fishing.

Let's look again at a map now of a coastal feature.

This map shows us a largest port.

In fact, it's the largest port in the UK.

This is Felixstowe.

The photograph shows the kind of big ships that are carrying huge metal boxes called containers that come in and out of the port at Felixstowe for trading.

This photograph is an aerial view of Felixstowe itself.

I've identified the specific area of the port on the map for you.

Remember, ports are usually found in a deep water bay or an estuary next to flat land.

That's because these big, massive ships need to get very close to the shore, and they can't do that if the water is too shallow.

They need very deep water, and the land needs to be flat for unloading all of those big metal containers.

I'd like to show you a naval base on a map now.

Look at this map of Portsmouth in the south of England, which is where a lot of the Royal Navy for the UK is based.

Here is an aerial photograph of the naval base, and I have identified this area for you on the map.

This coastline is a large stretch of protected inland water with lots of very sheltered, deep water, so it's a safe and protected place for the Navy to set up their base.

Let's think about tourism now.

Here is a map and an aerial photo of a coastline, you actually saw this coastline earlier, where lots of tourism takes place.

This is in the northeast of England.

In this place, there are lots of features, like sandy beaches, that tourists can come and enjoy.

Look at the photograph and look at the map.

Can you see the large extent of beautiful sandy beach there? Well done.

Now, I also said that sometimes land use at the coast is for food because we can get food from fishing.

Take a look at this map, which shows an area in the UK where lots of fishing takes place.

This is a place called Peterhead, which is in Aberdeenshire in Scotland.

This is actually the largest fishing port in the UK.

That's because Peterhead Bay forms a natural harbour, and this is enclosed and shelters.

Thus, it's a very safe harbour, a marina for fishing vessels to be able to dock.

I'm going to show you another map now of another coastal area.

You can use this map to complete Task B, or you can go and find a map of a coastal area that you would like to visit.

The map in this picture is a place called St Ives in Cornwall.

I want you to look at the map, and think about what it would be like to walk around the coast.

I want you to describe what that walk would be like using the clues and evidence that you can see on the map.

Sam is going to use this map for her Task B because she says she's always wanted to visit Cornwall, so she's choosing this route, which goes from Porthminster Point to St Ives Head.

So pause the video here.

Find the map for the place that you would always like to visit, or use this map of St Ives, and when you finish, come back, and we will be sharing Sam's ideas for what her walk would be like.

Ready? Here is Sam's description of this walk in Cornwall.

I started at the rocky headland of Porthminster Point, and walked up onto the beach where I watched people windsurf.

I then walked up to St Ives Beach, which was a mixture of sand and shingle.

I passed the pier and the slipway, and saw lots of boats in the harbour.

I continued up past the museum and the small bay at Porthgwidden before reaching my destination at the rocky outlook of St Ives Head.

So Sam did very well there to look at all the symbols and the shapes and the clues from that map, and use them to describe her route.

You have done really well today listening to a lot of information about how we can map the coastline of the UK.

Let's have a look now at everything we have discovered.

We know that the UK has a very, very long coastline.

That's because it's made up of one large island, part of another big island, and thousands of smaller islands that are dotted all around the coast of the UK.

People are able to walk around most of the coastline, and it's very helpful to be able to use maps to do this.

There is a great diversity of features, different land uses, and landscapes that we can find around the coast.

Maps can help us to identify those different human and physical features of our coasts.

I hope you've enjoyed today's lesson.

I know I have, and I'm looking forward to seeing you again next time for another exciting lesson about our dynamic UK coast.

Bye for now.