Year 2 Geography Scheme of Work
Year 2 geography builds significantly on the locational and place knowledge established in Year 1. Pupils now compare their local area with a contrasting non-European locality, developing their understanding of how geography shapes human life in different parts of the world. They also develop practical geographical skills: using four-point compass directions, reading simple maps with keys and grid references, and conducting structured fieldwork in the local area.
The weather and climate unit gives pupils a first taste of physical geography at a global scale: understanding that different parts of the world receive different amounts of sunlight and rainfall, and that this shapes how people live. By the end of KS1, pupils should be geographically literate: able to name the continents and oceans, locate the UK on a world map, and use basic mapping skills with growing confidence.
Expected prior knowledge
- ✓Knowledge of the four countries of the UK, their capital cities, and their basic characteristics.
- ✓Ability to name and locate the seven continents and five oceans on a world map.
- ✓Understanding that places near the Equator are hot and places near the Poles are cold.
- ✓Experience of simple fieldwork in the local area and early mapping skills.
Units across the year
Six half-term units covering all strands of the KS2 Geography programme of study.
Contrasting Locations: A Non-European Country
- –Understand geographical similarities and differences through the study of human and physical geography of a small area of a contrasting non-European country.
- –Use maps, atlases, globes, and digital and computer mapping to locate countries and describe features studied.
- –Study a contrasting locality (e.g. a coastal village in Kenya or a city in India) and compare with the local area.
- –Identify the physical and human features of the contrasting location and represent them on a sketch map.
- –Compare weather, food, housing, transport, and land use between the contrasting locality and the UK.
- –Write a postcard from the contrasting locality, describing what a visitor might see, hear, and experience.
Maps and Compass Directions
- –Use world maps, atlases, and globes to identify the United Kingdom and its countries, as well as the countries, continents, and oceans studied.
- –Use simple compass directions (North, South, East, West) and locational and directional language.
- –Use aerial photographs and plan perspectives to recognise landmarks and basic human and physical features.
- –Introduce N, S, E, W compass directions using a human compass activity in the school playground.
- –Give and follow compass-direction instructions to navigate around a simple map of the school grounds.
- –Compare an aerial photograph of the local area with an Ordnance Survey map and identify matching features.
- –Create a simple map with a key using compass directions to describe routes between points.
World Weather and Climate Patterns
- –Identify seasonal and daily weather patterns in the United Kingdom and the location of hot and cold areas of the world in relation to the Equator and the North and South Poles.
- –Use basic geographical vocabulary to refer to key physical and human features.
- –Track daily UK weather over a half-term using a weather station and record in a class weather diary.
- –Compare average monthly temperatures and rainfall in the UK, a tropical country, and a polar region using pictographs.
- –Investigate why it is always hot near the Equator and cold near the Poles using a globe and a torch.
- –Research how the seasons differ in the southern hemisphere and discuss why they are reversed.
Our Local Area: A Deeper Study
- –Use simple fieldwork and observational skills to study the geography of their school and its grounds and the key human and physical features of its surrounding environment.
- –Understand geographical similarities and differences through studying the human and physical geography of a small area of the United Kingdom.
- –Carry out a land use survey of the local area, recording shops, houses, green spaces, and services on a base map.
- –Create a map of the school grounds from memory, then compare with an aerial image and improve the original.
- –Conduct a traffic count at different times of day and draw a pictograph of results, discussing what they show.
- –Identify changes that pupils would like to make to improve their local environment and present ideas to the class.
Progression into Year 3
In Year 3, pupils move into Key Stage 2 geography and begin studying the physical processes that shape landscapes — rivers and the water cycle — alongside a more systematic study of settlements and how humans have used and modified the natural environment. Fieldwork skills become more formally structured.
Individual lesson plans
Full lesson frameworks — learning objectives, vocabulary, lesson structure, and common misconceptions — for each unit in this scheme.
View all Year 2 Geography lesson plans →