Our local area
Geography · Key Stage 1 · The School
Geography starts here
Geography is not only about far away places. It starts right where you live. Your street. Your school. Your local park. All of these are real places worth looking at closely. Look around you today.
What is around you
Walk around your local area with a grown-up. Notice the shops. Notice the roads. Notice any trees or parks. Notice the houses. Write down or draw five things you see. That list is your own local geography.
Human or physical, close to home
Sort your five things into two groups. Human features were made by people: a shop, a road, a house. Physical features were not: a hill, a tree, a stream. Most streets have both kinds mixed together. Try it on your own street.
Mapping the walk to school
Draw the walk from your home to your school. Start with your front door. Draw the road you turn onto. Draw the corner shop, if there is one. Draw the crossing you use. Draw the school gate at the end. This simple drawn route is a real map, made from your own local knowledge, even though it has no scale and no compass on it.
Your area, described properly
Now describe your local area in a few full sentences. Name a physical feature and a human feature. Say what you like about the area. Say what could be better. That is what a real geographer does about any place, starting with their own.