Key Stage 1 geography · Geographical skills and fieldwork

KS1 world maps, atlases and globes: a guide for parents

In Years 1 and 2 children learn to find places in the world using three tools: world maps, atlases and globes. They locate the United Kingdom and its four countries, and by the end of Key Stage 1 they are expected to name and find the world’s seven continents and five oceans. This is the foundation for every later piece of geography, because it gives children a mental picture of where things are.

World maps, atlases and globes, explained

A globe is a ball-shaped model of the Earth, so it shows the shape of the planet and the relative size of land and sea most accurately. A world map is a flat picture of the whole Earth, and an atlas is a book of maps, usually with a contents page and an index so that places can be looked up by name. A flat map cannot show a round planet without stretching or squashing some areas, so the same country can look a different shape or size on different maps. Children simply need to know that each tool shows the same world in a different way.

The United Kingdom is made up of four countries: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Their capital cities are London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast. Children are taught to find the United Kingdom on a world map or globe, then to find each country on a map of the British Isles. They should see that England, Scotland and Wales share the larger island, while Northern Ireland is on the island of Ireland, next to the Republic of Ireland, which is a separate country. Schools also choose other countries to study, for example a contrasting country in Africa, Asia or South America, and children learn to find those too.

The world’s seven continents are Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia (some schools say Oceania or Australasia), Europe, North America and South America. A continent is a huge area of land, and most contain many countries, though Antarctica has no countries of its own. Locating them means knowing roughly where each one is: from the United Kingdom, Africa lies to the south, Asia to the east, and North and South America across the Atlantic to the west. The five oceans are the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Southern and Arctic. The Pacific is the largest. In total, about 70 per cent of the Earth’s surface is covered by water, which is why maps and globes show so much blue. Some parts of the world count the continents differently, but the National Curriculum in England uses seven.

Teaching is active and repetitive in a good way. Children spin globes, point to continents, sing chants, colour blank maps, complete puzzles and hunt through atlases using the contents page. They practise phrases such as “The United Kingdom is in Europe” and “The Atlantic Ocean is to the west of the United Kingdom.” Because names are hard to remember, short, regular practice works better than one long session. It also helps to link the oceans and continents to stories, journeys and places the family knows.

Words your child will hear

Globe: A ball-shaped model of the Earth.
Atlas: A book of maps, with a contents page and an index for finding places.
Continent: A very large area of land. There are seven in the world.
Ocean: A huge area of salt water. There are five in the world.
Country: An area with its own name, border and often its own government, such as Wales.
Capital city: The main city of a country, such as Cardiff in Wales.
Border: The line on a map where one country ends and another begins.

What the National Curriculum says

In Key Stage 1, pupils should be taught to:

Use world maps, atlases and globes to identify the United Kingdom and its countries, as well as the countries, continents and oceans studied at this key stage
Name and locate the world’s 7 continents and 5 oceans

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

Try it: finding the United Kingdom

Using a globe or a world map, how can your child find the United Kingdom and say which continent, countries and waters surround it?

Spin the globe slowly. First look for the big blocks of land (continents) against the blue water (oceans). Start with the continent we live in: Europe.
Look off the north-west corner of Europe for two large islands and many small ones. The United Kingdom is here: the island of Great Britain, the northern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands. Notice that it is surrounded by water rather than joined to the mainland of Europe.
Switch to a map of the British Isles. Find the four countries: England in the south of the big island, Scotland to the north, Wales to the west of England, and Northern Ireland on the island across the water to the west.
Look at the water. The North Sea lies to the east and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland.
Check by using an atlas. Look up “United Kingdom” in the index, turn to the page it names and see whether it matches what you found on the globe.

“The United Kingdom is in Europe. It has four countries, which are England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Atlantic Ocean is to the west of it.”

Common mistakes and how to help

Saying that England and the United Kingdom are the same

Many people use “England” when they mean the whole country, and children hear it on the news, in songs and at sports matches.

What helps: Draw or point to the four countries and colour each one differently on a map. Say that England is one country and the United Kingdom is all four together.

Mixing up continents, countries and oceans

All three are big names on a map. Some words, such as Australia, can be both a country and a continent, and children also hear Africa and Europe spoken as if they were countries.

What helps: Use a simple ladder: a continent holds many countries, and a country can hold towns and cities. Oceans are water, continents are land. Practise by sorting name cards into the right group.

Thinking that people at the bottom of a globe are upside down

The globe has a top and a bottom when it sits in its stand, so children assume the bottom is under the Earth.

What helps: Explain that up and down on a globe are only because of how the stand holds it. Gravity pulls everyone towards the centre of the Earth, so people stand the right way up everywhere. Tilt or turn the globe to show this.

Expecting every map to show places in exactly the same size and shape

Children compare a flat world map with a globe and notice that some countries look bigger or differently shaped.

What helps: Praise the observation. Peel an orange and try to flatten the skin: it has to tear or stretch. This shows why a flat map cannot be perfect, and why a globe is the best guide to true shape.

How to help at home

Spin and point. Spin a globe or look at a world map with your eyes closed, then point. Name what you landed on. It is very often an ocean, which shows how much of the Earth is water.
Chant the continents and oceans. Make up a rhythm or short song for the seven continents and another for the five oceans. Repeating them aloud for a few minutes a day is a quick way to lock them in.
Where is it from? Look at labels on food, clothes and toys and find each country of origin on the map. Ask which continent it is in and which oceans lie between there and home.
Family places. Mark on a map where relatives live, where you have been on holiday or where a favourite story is set. Personal links help names stick.
Atlas treasure hunt. Give your child a place name and ask them to find it with the contents page or index. Try a country, a capital city or a sea. Take turns setting the challenge.

Leads on to

Key Stage 2: Atlases, globes and digital maps
Key Stage 2: Compass points and grid references
Key Stage 2: Ordnance Survey map symbols
Key Stage 2: Fieldwork: observe and measure
Key Stage 2: Fieldwork: presenting findings