KeyStage

Key Stage 2 geography · Geographical skills and fieldwork

KS2 atlases, globes and digital maps: a guide for parents

In Key Stage 2, children move from simply looking at maps to using them as tools. They use atlases, globes and digital maps to find countries and describe what they are like, and they learn the countries, major cities and main physical and human features of Europe (including Russia), North America and South America. Skilful map use also makes every other geography topic easier.

Atlases, globes and digital maps, explained

Each kind of map has a job. A globe is the most accurate model of the Earth because it keeps shapes, sizes and distances true, but it is hard to carry and can only show one side at a time. An atlas packs the whole world into a book, with maps at different scales, an index and a contents page. A digital map on a screen can be zoomed, switched between a street map and a satellite view, and can show routes, distances and layers of information. Children learn which to choose. To compare two countries, a world map is useful. To find a town, the atlas index or a digital search is quicker.

Using an atlas is a skill in itself. Children learn to look a place up in the index, which usually gives a page number and a grid square made of a letter and a number, then to run a finger along the column and row to find the square. They also read the key, because atlases use colour for height and land cover, and they see that a political map shows countries and borders while a physical map shows mountains, rivers and seas. Many atlases mark latitude and longitude too, which children meet in simple form.

The curriculum names the regions to study. Children learn to locate the countries of Europe, including the position of Russia, which is the largest country in the world and stretches across both Europe and Asia. They also locate North and South America, concentrating on their environmental regions, key physical and human characteristics, countries and major cities. Many atlases count Central America and the Caribbean as part of North America. Typical features include the Rocky Mountains, the Great Lakes and the Mississippi in North America, and the Andes and the Amazon in South America. Schools decide which countries and cities they emphasise.

Children are also taught that maps are drawn by people and make choices. Flattening a round Earth onto paper always distorts something, so on many world maps Greenland looks as large as Africa when it is in fact many times smaller. Digital maps add the questions of what to switch on, what to trust and how recent the image is. This understanding becomes more important in Key Stage 3, when children meet geographical information systems and more detailed mapping.

Words your child will hear

Atlas
A book of maps, usually with an index and a key.
Globe
A model of the Earth that shows land and sea accurately in their true shapes.
Index
An alphabetical list at the back of an atlas that tells you the page and grid square for each place.
Political map
A map that shows countries, borders and major cities.
Physical map
A map that shows natural features such as mountains, rivers and seas.
Continent
One of the seven large areas of land that the world is usually divided into in schools in England, such as Europe or South America.
Digital map
A map viewed on a screen that can be zoomed, searched and switched between layers.

What the National Curriculum says

In Key Stage 2, pupils should be taught to:

  • Use maps, atlases, globes and digital/computer mapping to locate countries and describe features studied
  • Locate the world’s countries, using maps to focus on Europe (including the location of Russia) and North and South America, concentrating on their environmental regions, key physical and human characteristics, countries, and major cities

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

A worked example: finding and describing Chile

Use an atlas, a globe and a digital map to find Chile and describe its position and main features.

  1. Decide which continent to look at. Chile is in South America, so find the contents page of the atlas and turn to the South America section, or find the continent on the globe.
  2. Find the country using the index. Look up Chile in the index, read the page number and the letter and number of the grid square, and put a finger on the square. Check by finding the name printed on the map.
  3. Describe the position. Chile is a long, narrow country on the west coast of South America. The Pacific Ocean lies to its west, the Andes mountains run along its eastern side and it borders Peru, Bolivia and Argentina. Use compass directions to say this, such as “Argentina is to the east.”
  4. Name the major city. Santiago, the capital, is in the middle of the country. Find it on the political map and notice that it is inland rather than on the coast.
  5. Check on a digital map. Zoom out to see where Chile sits in the continent, then zoom in and switch to a satellite view to see the mountains and the coast. Note what the satellite view shows that the map did not.

Chile is a long, narrow country on the west coast of South America, between the Pacific Ocean and the Andes mountains. It borders Peru, Bolivia and Argentina, and its capital, Santiago, is in the middle of the country.

Common mistakes and how to help

Greenland is as big as Africa

Most world maps stretch land near the poles, so countries far from the Equator look bigger than they are. Children trust what they see.

What helps: Compare a globe with a flat map. Notice how the shapes and sizes change, and explain that a flat map always has to bend the truth somewhere.

North is “up”, so northern places are higher than southern ones

Because north is at the top of most maps, children can mix up north with up and think that northern places are higher, or that rivers cannot flow north. North is simply a direction.

What helps: Turn a map around and find north again with a compass rose. Point out that north is a direction on the Earth, not a height.

Russia is only in Europe, or only in Asia

Maps often show Russia as one block, so children assume it belongs to a single continent. In fact it crosses both, and its capital, Moscow, lies in the European part.

What helps: Find the Ural Mountains on a map, which are often used as the boundary, and talk about a country that sits across two continents.

Digital maps are always right and up to date

A screen feels more current than a book, so children trust it completely. Satellite pictures can be months or years old, and places and names do change.

What helps: Check the date of the image where you can, and compare the digital map with a printed atlas. Talk about how we decide which source to trust.

How to help at home

  • Keep an atlas or globe in the house. Look up places mentioned in the news, in a story or on a food label. Finding each one takes a minute, and over time it builds your child’s mental map of the world.
  • Play “find it first”. Name a country or city and race to find it in the atlas index and on the map. Take turns, and ask the finder to say which continent it is in and what lies to the north, south, east and west.
  • Plan an imaginary journey. Choose a destination in Europe or the Americas and plan a route with a digital map. Which countries would you cross, which seas, mountains or rivers, and how long might it take?
  • Compare map and satellite views. Look at your own street on a digital map, then switch to the satellite view and find your house, a park or a school. Ask your child what each view shows best.
  • Draw a map from memory. Ask your child to sketch Europe or South America from memory, adding what they remember, then check against a printed map. Do it again next week to see what has stuck.

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