KS2 - North & South America

Bring geography to life outdoors as children explore the human and physical features of South and North America, comparing them to their own local region through creative, hands-on activities. From building flood-resistant houses to mapping continents and recreating features with natural materials, these lessons make global learning active, memorable, and fun.

Lesson Plans

Locating countries and cities in the Americas

During this outdoor lesson, your children will have the opportunity to revisit their continent knowledge while creating large-scale drawings and locating capital cities within their continent.

Learning objective:

To identify and locate countries and cities in North and South America.

Identifying features of North America

In this outdoor lesson, your children will focus on the 5 regions of North America. They’ll work in groups to focus on a specific region in order to identify its physical features and share their learning of the human features through practical working with natural resources.

Learning objective:

To identify human and physical features of North America.

Identifying features of South America

Using satellite images and photographs, your children will have the opportunity to look closely at both the human and physical features of South America, within this outdoor lesson. They’ll then recreate human features of South America using natural loose parts to work practically and share their understanding.

Learning objective:

To identify the human and physical features of South America

Comparing a region in North America to a local region

The main activity of this outdoor lesson requires your children to use their knowledge of their own local region to compare this with a region in North America (Canada). They’ll discuss how these regions differ and will then work collaboratively to create suitable houses for people living in each, using what they’ve learned in the lesson.

Learning objective:

To compare a region in North America to a local region.

Comparing housing in a region of South America region to the UK

During this outdoor lesson your children will look closely at housing along the Amazon river, discussing how this differs to UK housing along river banks and will compare and contrast flood defences in each region, through hands-on experiences and practical working. This lesson is perfect for those looking for an exciting hook to finish off a local study comparison.

Learning objective:

To compare housing in a region of South America to a region in the UK.

Before you get started

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