This term our topic is Amazon: Rivers and Rainforests. 
Take a look at some of the amazing work we have completed in Year 4, all of the children have thoroughly engaged with this topic and have loved learning all about our amazing rainforests!

What are some of the key physical features of South America? 

We began our topic by exploring the key human and physical features of South America. We explored the location of the continent in our world and used this knowledge to create continent fact cards. 

We then spent time looking at the climate across the continent and discussed what the conditions would be like in each area. 

What are some of the key human features of South America?

In this lesson, we built on our previous knowledge of key physical features and began to explore the key human features of the continent. 

Within this lesson we worked with our partner to use our atlases to locate and name all of the countries of South America. We then used our atlases to explore the key industries in each country before creating a map to show the main exports of products across the continent.

What are tropical rainforests and where are they found?

After focusing on the key features of the continent of South America we then began to focus on tropical rainforests.

We explored the conditions needed in a tropical rainforest and discussed where in South America we might find tropical rainforests using our knowledge of the climate zones in the continent. 

We used atlases to identify the location of the rainforests across the world and identified continents and countries where we would find our tropical rainforests.

What is it like inside a tropical rainforest?

After locating the rainforests in the world we then explored what life would be like to be inside a tropical rainforest. We were able to identify each layer of the rainforest and discussed what the conditions would be like in each layer. We added our key vocabulary to our layers of the rainforest classroom display before creating a flip-flap book to show the conditions in each of the four layers.

Which animals call a tropical rainforest their home?

To build on our previous learning we looked at which animals call a tropical rainforest their home. By the end of the lesson, we were able to identify a range of animals that lived in a tropical rainforest and we could correctly identify which layer these animals would call home.

During this lesson, we used laptops to research some of the animals found in a tropical rainforest.

Do people live in the Amazon Rainforest?

After focusing on the animals that call the rainforest their home we then focused on the people that also call the tropical rainforests their home. We discussed the meaning of key vocabulary including tribe, indigenous people and ancestors before researching two tribes that are found in the Amazon Rainforest. 

We used the information to explain who the Yanomami Tribe and Awa Tribe are and what life is like for them.

What is happening to the Amazon Rainforest?

In this lesson, we focused on the impact that deforestation is having on the Amazon Rainforest. We explored the main causes of deforestation and created a spinning wheel to present these in our books. 
After this, we had a class debate around deforestation to explore whether deforestation must happen in the rainforests. The children were highly engaged with this issue and then completed some writing to end the lesson to express their points of view.

What are the features of a river and where in the world are major rivers found?

In this lesson, we moved away from life inside the tropical rainforests and began to focus on the key features of a river.

We identified the features of a river in the upper course, lower course and middle course of a river. 

We then used atlases to identify the location of some of the world's major rivers.

How has the Amazon River shaped the land?

Within this lesson, we explored the formation of a river and were able to explain how erosion and deposition change the course of a river and shape the land. 

We explored what each concept was and how meanders form. 

To end the lesson we then explored how an oxbow lake is formed before explaining the step-by-step process in our topic books.

How are the Amazon and other rivers used?

To end our topic we focused on how rivers are used in day-to-day life. We explored the positive and negative impacts of using a river for various reasons including tourism, fishing and idustry. 

We finished the lesson by focusing on our local river the River Don, we used research to explore how the River Don is currently used and how it was used in the past.

End of topic essay 

To consolidate our learning over the last 10 lessons, we completed an independent piece of work to show everything that we have focused on over the past term. 

The children enjoyed presenting their work in creative ways and it was fantastic to see how they were so eager to display all of their excellent learning and hardwork. 
Here is a fantastic example from David!

Look at the Nat Geo Kids and learn fun facts about nature and the world around us.

https://www.natgeokids.com/uk/category/discover/geography/

Click on the link below to take quizzes and learn facts about different countries.

https://www.kids-world-travel-guide.com/geography-for-kids.html

Learn about all the different areas of geography even rocks and soils.

https://www.theschoolrun.com/homework-gnome-geography