Author: Amanda McGarrigle

Geography—Term 3
Mountain Environments

Background Information
Pupils should extend their knowledge and understanding beyond the local area to include the United Kingdom and Europe, North and South America. This will include the location and characteristics of a range of the world’s most significant human and physical features.
They should develop their use of geographical knowledge, understanding and skills to enhance their locational and place knowledge.

In this unit the children will…
Use maps, atlases and globes to locate the world’s countries, focusing on Europe, concentrating on the key physical characteristics, such as mountain ranges
Understand geographical similarities and differences through the study of human and physical geography of a region of the UK, a region in Europe and within North or South America
Describe and understand key aspects of physical geography, including mountains, volcanoes and earthquakes

By the end of this unit….
All children will:
develop contextual knowledge of the location of globally significant places – both terrestrial and marine – including their defining physical and human characteristics and how these provide a geographical context for understanding the actions of processes
understand the processes that give rise to key physical and human geographical features of the world
Be competent in the geographical skills needed to:
collect, analyse and communicate with a range of data gathered through experiences of fieldwork that deepen their understanding of geographical processes
interpret a range of sources of geographical information, including maps, diagrams, globes, aerial photographs and Geographical Information Systems (GIS)
communicate geographical information in a variety of ways, including through maps, numerical and quantitative skills and writing at length.
Some children will:
understand the processes that give rise to key physical and human geographical features of the world, how these are interdependent and how they bring about spatial variation and change over time

The children will explore:
Using maps, atlases and globes to locate mountains in the U.K
Using maps, atlases and globes to locate mountain ranges in most continents
Identifying key physical features of a mountain
Mountainous climates and be able to describe them
Mountain environments—plants and animals
How mountains are formed
Mountain travel and the impact of tourism

Key Vocabulary
Physical geographical features, human geographical features, climate, habitats, equator, adapted, mountainous areas, continents, nutrients, extinct, mammals, valleys, ranges, settlements, oxygen, stepped fields, erosion, global warming, reservoirs, dams, conservation
Mount Kenya, Guanacos, , Himalayan panda, mountain goat, mountain ringlet butterfly, meltwater stonefly, Glacier National Park in Montana, USA,
Pennines, Grampian, Snowdonia, Dartmoor, Cumbrian, Sperrin Mountains—UK
Rocky Mountains and Denali—North America, Alps, Mont Blanc, Pyrenees and Elbrus—Europe, Atlas and Kilimanjaro—Africa, Himalayas and Everest—Asia, Andes Mountains and Aconcagua—South America, Irian Jaya—Oceania, Vinson—Antarctica