Key Stage 1 geography · Place knowledge

KS1 geography: comparing two places

Once children have studied a small area of the UK and a small area of a contrasting country outside Europe, they are taught to compare the two: what is the same and what is different. This is the heart of the Key Stage 1 place knowledge objective, and it asks children to use evidence to back up what they say. It also builds the habit of looking for both likeness and difference, which they use throughout school.

Comparing two places, explained

The National Curriculum asks children to understand “geographical similarities and differences” by studying the human and physical geography of the two places. That means the comparison is not a list of facts about the second place: it is a back-and-forth between the two. For every feature a child notices in one place, they ask: is there something like this in the other?

Teachers usually give children a structure to hold the comparison. A two-circle diagram, where the shared features go in the middle, is common. So is a simple table with the headings weather, land, buildings, jobs and food, and a column for each place. Sentence starters such as “In both places…”, “In our village there is…, but in…, there is…” and “One difference is…” help children to say a full comparison rather than just naming items.

Children compare both physical and human features. Physical comparisons might cover weather, seasons, hills and coast, rivers, soil and plants. Human comparisons might cover houses and what they are made of, shops and markets, farms and crops, roads and transport, and the jobs people do. Because the vocabulary is the same for both places, children can see that the same words, such as farm or market, can describe quite different things.

A good comparison at this age is accurate and fair. Children should notice similarities as well as differences, say where the evidence came from (“on our walk I saw…” for the UK area, which is often studied first-hand, or “in the photograph I saw…” for the place abroad), and avoid sweeping claims such as “everyone there is…”. The skills are close looking, sorting, and using words like both, same, different, more and less. Explaining why the places differ, for example because one is nearer the Equator, is a bonus rather than a requirement.

Words your child will hear

Compare: To look at two things and say how they are alike and how they are different.
Similar: Alike in some way, though not exactly the same.
Different: Not the same.
Both: Used when something is true of two places: “In both places there are houses.”
Physical geography: The natural parts of a place, such as weather, hills, rivers and plants.
Human geography: The parts of a place made or used by people, such as buildings, farms and shops.
Evidence: What we have seen, such as in a photograph or on a walk, that helps us give an answer.

What the National Curriculum says

The programme of study for Key Stage 1 says:

Pupils should be taught to understand geographical similarities and differences through studying the human and physical geography of a small area of the United Kingdom, and of a small area in a contrasting non-European country
Pupils should understand basic subject-specific vocabulary relating to human and physical geography and begin to use geographical skills, including first-hand observation, to enhance their locational awareness.

Objectives from the National Curriculum in England, © Crown copyright, used under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Try it: comparing two villages

A class has studied a village in the UK and a village in the hills of Kenya. How are the weather and the buildings alike and different?

Start with a table with two columns, one for each village, and two rows: weather and buildings. Fill in what the class found out from photographs, maps and a weather chart.
Weather. The UK village has four seasons, and rain falls at any time of year. In much of Kenya the year is divided into wetter and drier times, which the class called the rainy and dry seasons.
Buildings. Both villages have houses with roofs, so that is a similarity. In the UK village many houses are made of brick and have slate or tile roofs. In the Kenyan village the class saw houses with metal roofs.
Turn each row into a sentence using the starters. “In both villages people live in houses. One difference is that in the UK it rains in all four seasons, but in Kenya there are rainy and dry seasons.”
Add the evidence: “I saw this in the photographs.” Then state something you do not yet know, such as what the village is like at night.

Both villages have houses and weather that changes through the year. They are different because the UK village has four seasons with rain all year, while the Kenyan village has rainy and dry seasons, and the houses are made of different materials.

Common mistakes and how to help

Listing facts about each place without comparing them

Children find it easier to describe one place at a time. A list of “here: shops, hills” then “there: shops, mountains” is not yet a comparison.

What helps: Use a prompt such as “What is the same?” or “Which is bigger?” to link each fact to the other place. Ask for a sentence with “but” or “both”.

Noticing only the differences

Differences stand out, especially at first. Children can end up saying there is nothing in common, and that the other place is “strange”.

What helps: Ask for two similarities before any differences. Every place has people, homes, food, play and school, and finding these first sets the tone.

Saying one place is better than the other

Children naturally like what is familiar and may say the other place is worse because it is hotter, drier or has different food.

What helps: Use words like “different” and “similar” in place of “better” and “worse”. Ask: “What might someone there like about their place?”

Applying what they know about one village to a whole country

Children have studied a small area but may say “in Kenya, everyone…” or “in the UK, it always…”.

What helps: Remind them it is a small area. “In this village…” keeps the claim honest, and shows that there are lots of other places to look at.

How to help at home

Compare two places you know. Choose two places, such as your street and your grandparents’ home, a beach and a park, or home and a holiday. Draw a circle for each and write what is the same where they overlap.
Use sentence starters. Say “In both places…” and “One difference is…” in conversation. Practising the spoken sentence first makes writing it down easier.
Look at two pictures. Find two photographs in books or magazines of places, one familiar and one unfamiliar. Ask your child to find three things that are the same and three that are different.
Compare the weather. Look at today’s weather where you live and in another place, such as a relative’s home in another part of the world. Talk about what people there might wear and do.
Ask “what would you miss?”. Ask your child what they would miss from home if they visited the other place, and what they might enjoy there. It develops empathy and links the two places to real life.

Leads on to

Key Stage 2: A region of the United Kingdom
Key Stage 2: A region in a European country
Key Stage 2: A region in North or South America