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Year 10
AQA

Describing landscapes using maps

I can describe a landscape from a map.

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New
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Year 10
AQA

Describing landscapes using maps

I can describe a landscape from a map.

Download all resources
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Share activities with pupils
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These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Landscapes can be described through their relief and drainage.
  2. Landscapes can be described through their vegetation cover and land use.
  3. Landscapes can be described through the shape and situation of their settlements.

Keywords

  • Linear - a description for a feature (such as a settlement) that resembles a line

  • Sinuosity - how straight or curvy (sinuous) a river is

  • Nucleated - a description for a feature (such as a settlement) that is wrapped around a central point

Common misconception

White space on a map means there is nothing there.

White space means that the land cover there is grassland or farmland.


To help you plan your year 10 geography lesson on: Describing landscapes using maps, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Maps can be used alongside photographs of landscapes. Students can evaluate which source gives the most accurate information and which allows the viewer to make the most informed description.
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This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Relief is defined as the of the land.
Correct Answer: shape
Q2.
A ridge is ...
Correct answer: a long, thin hill with very steep sides.
a hill with one steep and one gentle side.
an isolated hill.
a hill with a flat top.
Q3.
The three courses of a river are known as the ...
Correct answer: upper, middle and lower courses.
high, middle and low courses.
high, centre and low courses.
upper, centre and lower courses.
Q4.
How large is a hectare?
Ten square metres
Correct answer: One hundred square metres
One square kilometre
Ten square kilometres
Q5.
OS maps are covered in a series of vertical and horizontal lines. This means the map is divided into ...
Correct answer: grid squares.
latitude squares.
national squares.
cross squares.
Q6.
A settlement is ...
Correct answer: a place where people live and/or work.
a cluster of houses.
a place with a population of more than 10 000 people.
a rural dwelling.

Exit quiz

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4 Questions

Q1.
Which of the following on a map would indicate a river in its lower course?
Correct answer: No or few contour lines either side of a wide channel.
Contour lines close together and a thin channel.
Contour lines running parallel to the river channel.
The channel becoming straighter as it moves through settlements.
Q2.
What does white space on an OS map show?
Correct answer: Farmland
Correct answer: Grassland
Woodland
Nothing
Settlements
Q3.
A settlement is one that is made up of single buildings that are spread out from one another.
Correct Answer: dispersed
Q4.
A map that shows a settlement with straight black lines separating the white areas into smaller squares is likely to have what type of function?
Correct answer: Agricultural
Industrial
Residential
Tourism