The Everyday Guide to Primary Geography: Maps

This Guide explores the potential for introducing maps and mapwork to stimulate, enliven and enrich geography teaching at key stage 1 and 2. It includes a range of practical activities and classroom strategies. These are designed to develop pupils’ knowledge and understanding both about maps and the messages maps provide about the real world. It also identifies the possibilities for cross-curricular work with other subjects.

As well as promoting pupils’ enjoyment of maps, this Guide aims to:

• help pupils make sense of the world around them through understanding and interpreting maps
• exemplify strategies, resources and context to develop specific mapwork skills
• provide creative ideas for developing pupils’ knowledge and understanding about places.

The Guide is accompanied by web-based resources, including key vocabulary, cross-curricular links, weblinks and resources, activity sheets and examples of pupils’ work.

CONTENTS

• Geography and maps
• Using this guide
• Developing progression in mapwork
• Ordnance Survey and digital mapping
• Learning about signs and symbols
• Looking at perspective and scale
• Focusing on compass and direction
• Introducing grid references
• Exploring atlases and globes
• Maps, maps and more maps
• Using images with maps
• Discovering the past in maps
• Investigating stories with maps
• Carrying out fieldwork with maps
• Investigating land use
• Wayfinding with maps
• Exploring with orienteering
• Useful resources and websites