Key Stage 3 geography · Place knowledge

KS3 place study: a region in Africa explained

A place study looks closely at one region rather than a whole continent. At Key Stage 3 pupils study a region in Africa in depth, looking at its landscape, climate, people and economy, and at how physical and human features affect each other and change over time. The school chooses the region, so what your child studies might be East Africa, the Sahel, the Nile Valley, West Africa or southern Africa.

Place study: a region in Africa, explained

The National Curriculum asks pupils to understand similarities, differences and links between places through the study of the human and physical geography of a region in Africa and a region in Asia. It also asks them to understand how geographical processes interact to create distinctive human and physical landscapes that change over time. The programme does not say which region to choose, so schools pick one they can teach well. Children who did primary place studies of a region of the UK, a European country or the Americas will recognise the approach, but the questions are now more detailed and more about causes.

A typical place study moves through a sequence of questions. Where is the region, and how does it connect to places around it? What is the relief, climate and wildlife like, and why? Who lives there, and how are the people spread out? How do they earn a living, and how does the landscape affect their work? What has changed in recent years, and what might happen next? Pupils use atlases, climate graphs, population data, photographs and satellite images, and learn to check what each source can and cannot show.

Many schools choose East Africa. The East African Rift, a long zone where the African plate is slowly pulling apart, runs through Kenya and its neighbours, shaping high volcanic mountains, steep valleys and lakes. Kenya lies across the Equator, but altitude cools the highlands, so Nairobi, at about 1,800 metres, is much milder than a city at sea level in the tropics. Two rainy seasons, the “long rains” from about March to May and the “short rains” from about October to December, shape the farming year. Volcanic soils are fertile, so farmers grow tea and coffee in the highlands and flowers beside Lake Naivasha, much of it exported, including to the UK. The heat inside the Earth is used for geothermal electricity near Hell’s Gate, which gives Kenya a large share of its power from a renewable source. In many other parts of the country, people are pastoralists, moving cattle and goats to find grass.

Landscapes are never fixed. Over millions of years the Rift has opened and volcanoes have built up, while over decades forests have been cleared for farmland, towns have grown and lake levels have risen and fallen with the rain. Nairobi and other cities are expanding quickly, and mobile phone money transfer is widely used. Pupils are asked to explain how physical processes and human decisions interact. For example, cutting down highland forest can increase soil erosion, which sends silt into rivers and lakes and makes water supplies harder to manage. Other choices of region, such as the Sahel, the Nile Valley or the Niger Delta, give different examples of the same ideas, and the school will say which one it is using.

Words your child will hear

Region: An area with shared features. It can be part of one country or cross several, and where its edges lie depends on who draws them.
Altitude: Height above sea level. Temperature falls as altitude rises, even on the Equator.
Geothermal energy: Power made using heat from inside the Earth, often where volcanoes or faults are close to the surface.
Cash crop: A crop grown to sell, often abroad, such as tea or coffee, rather than to feed the grower’s own family.
Subsistence farming: Farming mainly to feed the farmer’s own family, with only a small surplus to sell.
Urbanisation: The growth of towns and cities, as people move from the countryside or are born in towns.
Pastoralism: A way of life based on herding animals such as cattle, goats or camels across wide areas of land.

What the National Curriculum says

The programme of study for Key Stage 3 says:

Pupils should be taught to understand geographical similarities, differences and links between places through the study of the human and physical geography of a region in Africa and a region in Asia
Pupils should understand how geographical processes interact to create distinctive human and physical landscapes that change over time.

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

Try it: linking physical and human geography

A school has chosen East Africa. How does the physical geography of the Kenyan Highlands and Rift Valley affect the way people use the land?

Describe the physical features. The Rift Valley is a deep valley with lakes and volcanoes, and on either side lie highlands that are much higher than the surrounding land. Nairobi, just east of the Rift, is at about 1,800 metres, and Lake Naivasha lies on the valley floor.
Explain the climate. The Equator is nearby, but height makes the highlands cool and the temperature fairly steady all year. There are two rainy seasons, so crops can grow for much of the year.
Say what the land is like for farming. Volcanic ash has made soils rich, so tea, coffee and vegetables grow well in the highlands, and flowers grow around Lake Naivasha, where there is fresh water for irrigation. The drier lower land is used for grazing.
Link to other uses. Heat from deep in the Earth supplies geothermal power stations, and the dramatic scenery and wildlife bring in visitors, which creates jobs in hotels, transport and national parks.
End with change and a balance. Growth in farming, towns and tourism brings jobs, but it also uses lots of water and land, so people have to balance their needs with protecting the lakes and wildlife.

The Kenyan Highlands and Rift Valley are cool, fairly wet and covered in fertile volcanic soil, so they suit crops such as tea, coffee and flowers for export, while the drier land supports herding. The heat below the surface provides geothermal power, and the scenery supports tourism. These uses depend on water and land, so they are changing the region and need careful management.

Common mistakes and how to help

Treating a region as if it were a single country, or as the whole of Africa

Children are used to studying one country at a time. A region such as East Africa crosses borders, and what is true of one part may not be true of another.

What helps: Ask “which part?” and use a map to check. Regions are best described by comparing two or three places within them.

Believing the only story of Africa is poverty and aid

News and fundraising often show one side. Many African countries have fast-growing cities, new technology, important exports and well-known universities, alongside real challenges.

What helps: Look at a range of evidence, such as photographs of cities, farms and schools, and data on jobs and communication, to build a more balanced picture.

Thinking the Equator means a place is always hot

The idea that the Equator is hot is true at sea level, but height changes it. Nairobi is much cooler than Mombasa on the coast, and Mount Kenya has glaciers.

What helps: Compare climate graphs for a highland place and a coastal place at a similar latitude, and explain the difference in temperatures.

Explaining everything with physical geography alone

It is tempting to say that “the land makes people do this”. In fact, markets, laws, technology, investment and people’s own choices matter just as much.

What helps: For any feature, ask two questions: what does the landscape allow, and what have people decided to do with it?

How to help at home

Trace a product’s journey. Check a pack of tea, coffee, fruit or cut flowers for the country of origin. Find the place on the map and talk about the landscape and climate that suit the crop.
Compare with your own area. Describe your local area using the same questions as a place study: relief, climate, jobs, land use and recent change. Then ask how a region in Africa would answer them differently.
Make a cause-and-effect chain. Choose a feature such as a lake, a mountain or a rainy season and draw a chain: first this happens, which leads to this, which affects people by doing this.
Read the climate graph. Look up the temperature and rainfall for a town in the region and for your own town. Discuss what seasons are like, when farmers might plant and what clothes you would pack.

Builds on

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