Key Stage 2 · ages 7 to 11
Key Stage 2 geography: what your child learns
Key Stage 2 widens the map to Europe, including Russia, and North and South America, alongside UK counties, cities, hills, mountains and rivers. Children learn latitude, longitude, the Equator, the Tropics, the Prime Meridian and time zones, then how rivers, volcanoes, earthquakes, climate zones and the water cycle work, plus settlement, trade and natural resources. Eight-point compasses, six-figure grid references and fieldwork sharpen their skills.
Guides for parents
Key Stage 2 geography
Climate zones, biomes and vegetation belts
What Key Stage 2 children learn about climate zones, biomes and vegetation belts, from rainforest to tundra, with a worked example and ways to explore at home.
Key Stage 2 geography
Compass points and grid references
How KS2 children use the 8 points of a compass and 4- and 6-figure grid references to find places on maps, with a worked example and simple ways to practise.
Key Stage 2 geography
Countries of Europe and Russia
How children in Key Stage 2 learn to locate the countries of Europe, including Russia, with maps and atlases, plus common mix-ups and simple ways to help at home.
Key Stage 2 geography
Atlases, globes and digital maps
How KS2 children use atlases, globes and digital maps to locate countries, with a focus on Europe, North America and South America, plus easy ways to practise at home.
Key Stage 2 geography
Natural resources
How KS2 children learn where energy, food, minerals and water come from, why they are spread unevenly across the world, and how to explore it at home.
Key Stage 2 geography
Economic activity and trade
What KS2 children learn about jobs, industries and trade links between countries, how a product travels from raw material to shop, and simple ways to explore it at home.
Key Stage 2 geography
Fieldwork: observe and measure
How KS2 children do geography fieldwork in their local area: asking a question, choosing a method, counting, measuring and recording data safely, with ideas for home.
Key Stage 2 geography
Fieldwork: presenting findings
How KS2 children present geography fieldwork using sketch maps, plans, bar charts, line graphs and digital technology, and how to help your child show what they found.
Key Stage 2 geography
Latitude, longitude and hemispheres
What Key Stage 2 children learn about latitude, longitude, the Equator, the Prime Meridian and the hemispheres, with a worked example and ways to practise at home.
Key Stage 2 geography
Mountains
What Key Stage 2 children learn about mountains: how fold mountains form, famous ranges and peaks, mountain weather, and how people live on and use mountains.
Key Stage 2 geography
North America: countries and features
What children in Key Stage 2 learn about North America: locating countries and major cities, mountains, rivers and climates, with common mix-ups and ideas for home.
Key Stage 2 geography
Ordnance Survey map symbols
How KS2 children read Ordnance Survey map symbols and keys, understand contour lines and use maps to describe hills, rivers, coasts and land use across the UK.
Key Stage 2 geography
Prime Meridian and time zones
How Key Stage 2 children learn about latitude, longitude, the Prime Meridian, time zones, and why it is day in one country while it is night in another.
Key Stage 2 geography
A region in a European country
How Key Stage 2 children study the human and physical geography of a region in a European country, how schools choose one, and how to compare it with the UK.
Key Stage 2 geography
A region in North or South America
How Key Stage 2 children study a region in North or South America, such as the Amazon or the Rockies, how schools choose, and how to help them compare places.
Key Stage 2 geography
A region of the United Kingdom
How Key Stage 2 children study the physical and human geography of one UK region, how schools choose it, and how to help your child compare it with other places.
Key Stage 2 geography
Rivers and the water cycle
What Key Stage 2 children learn about the water cycle and the journey of a river from source to mouth, with a worked example and easy ideas to try at home.
Key Stage 2 geography
Settlements and land use
How KS2 children learn about hamlets, villages, towns and cities, why places grow where they do, and how land is used and changes over time, with ideas for home.
Key Stage 2 geography
South America: countries and features
What children in Key Stage 2 learn about South America: locating countries and cities, the Andes and the Amazon, climates, common mix-ups and ideas for home.
Key Stage 2 geography
Tropics and polar circles
What Key Stage 2 children learn about the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn and the Arctic and Antarctic Circles, why they exist, and how they link to climate zones.
Key Stage 2 geography
Counties and cities of the UK
How children in Key Stage 2 learn to name and locate the counties and cities of the United Kingdom, what makes a city, common mix-ups and easy ways to practise at home.
Key Stage 2 geography
UK land use and change
What Key Stage 2 children learn about land use in the UK, from farmland and cities to industry and leisure, and how patterns have changed over time. Ideas to try at home.
Key Stage 2 geography
UK regions, mountains and rivers
How children in Key Stage 2 learn about the UK’s regions, hills, mountains, coasts and rivers, and how to read compass points and grid references on OS maps.
Key Stage 2 geography
Volcanoes and earthquakes
What Key Stage 2 children learn about volcanoes and earthquakes: what is inside the Earth, tectonic plates, where they happen and how people live with the risks.
Everything in the Key Stage 2 geography curriculum
The National Curriculum topics for Key Stage 2, in the order the National Curriculum lists them.
Locational knowledge
- Countries of Europe (including the location of Russia)
- North America: countries, regions, features and major cities
- South America: countries, regions, features and major cities
- Counties and cities of the United Kingdom
- UK geographical regions and key topographical features
- UK land-use patterns and how they have changed over time
- Latitude, longitude, the Equator and the hemispheres
- The Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn and the Arctic and Antarctic Circles
- The Prime/Greenwich Meridian, time zones, and day and night
Place knowledge
Human and physical geography
Geographical skills and fieldwork
- Using maps, atlases, globes and digital/computer mapping
- The 8 points of a compass and 4- and 6-figure grid references
- Ordnance Survey map symbols and keys
- Fieldwork: observing, measuring and recording local features
- Fieldwork: presenting findings with sketch maps, plans, graphs and digital technologies