Year 1 Geography Scheme of Work
Year 1 geography begins with the most immediate and personal scale — the local area — before expanding outward to the United Kingdom and then to the world. This progression from the familiar to the distant is a fundamental principle of primary geography: pupils need a secure understanding of where they are before they can meaningfully understand the wider world.
The four units across the year give pupils a grounding in the two main strands of the KS1 geography programme of study: place knowledge (learning about specific places) and human and physical geography (understanding the features and processes that shape places). Fieldwork is embedded throughout: even in Year 1, pupils should be getting outside to observe, sketch, and describe the geographical features of their immediate environment.
Expected prior knowledge
- ✓Awareness from EYFS of the immediate environment including familiar routes and the school grounds.
- ✓Familiarity with basic weather vocabulary and an awareness that the weather changes.
- ✓Experience of looking at pictures and photographs of different places.
- ✓An emerging sense of place, home, and community from EYFS learning.
Units across the year
Six half-term units covering all strands of the KS2 Geography programme of study.
Our Local Area
- –Understand geographical similarities and differences through studying the human and physical geography of a small area of the United Kingdom.
- –Use world maps, atlases, and globes to identify the United Kingdom.
- –Use simple fieldwork and observational skills to study the geography of their school and its grounds.
- –Walk around the local area with simple observation sheets, sketching and labelling human and physical features.
- –Create a large-scale map of the school grounds, including labels for key features.
- –Sort photographs of local features into human (made by people) and physical (natural) categories.
- –Conduct a traffic or land use survey on the street outside school and record findings in a tally chart.
The United Kingdom and Its Countries
- –Name, locate, and identify characteristics of the four countries and capital cities of the United Kingdom.
- –Understand geographical similarities and differences through studying the human and physical geography of the United Kingdom.
- –Use a map to locate and label the four countries of the UK and their capital cities.
- –Research one fact about each country and create a class fact wall for England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
- –Explore the flags, emblems, and languages of the four countries.
- –Discuss the difference between a country, a capital city, and an island using a map.
Continents and Oceans
- –Name and locate the world's seven continents and five oceans.
- –Identify the location of hot and cold areas of the world in relation to the Equator and the North and South Poles.
- –Use a world map and globe to locate and label the seven continents and five oceans.
- –Play a whole-class game placing continent and ocean name cards on a large floor map.
- –Locate hot places (near the Equator) and cold places (near the Poles) and discuss why temperature varies with latitude.
- –Match animals to the continents they come from and discuss how different environments suit different animals.
Hot and Cold Places
- –Identify the location of hot and cold areas of the world in relation to the Equator and the North and South Poles.
- –Understand the difference between hot and cold climates.
- –Compare photographs of a hot desert, a tropical rainforest, an Arctic tundra, and a temperate climate, sorting by temperature.
- –Research an animal that lives in an extreme environment (e.g. polar bear, camel) and explain how it is adapted.
- –Compare a typical day for a child in a hot climate (e.g. Kenya) with a day in a cold climate (e.g. Norway).
- –Create a weather wheel showing different weather types and discuss which climates experience each most often.
Progression into Year 2
In Year 2, pupils extend their geographical understanding to include a contrasting locality outside the UK, deepen their mapping skills including compass directions, explore world weather patterns, and study the local area in greater depth.
Individual lesson plans
Full lesson frameworks — learning objectives, vocabulary, lesson structure, and common misconceptions — for each unit in this scheme.
View all Year 1 Geography lesson plans →