Author: hskinner

UKS2 – History – The Americas

Key Knowledge to Learn:

Words to know and spell (Tier 2 Vocabulary)
America / Oceans / Coastlines / Land-form	Rivers / Lakes / Mountains / volcanoes	Country / State

That continents are groups of countries
The Americas are two separate continents consisting of North America and South America.
The characteristics of different countries and regions vary significantly, including weather, land use and flora and fauna.
North America contains 23 different countries.
The Americas cover a huge area of the globe, extending over several lines of latitude and longitude.
Name some of the wonders of the Americas

Key skills to do:

Use maps to identify key places in the Americas
Label lines of longitude on a map
Use coordinates to locate places on a map
Describe the climates of different regions
Identify key human and physical features
Describe the human geography of an area of North America

Concept check questions. Test yourself:

Name the 7 continents
How many climate zones are there?
What climate zone do we live in?

Words to understand and spell (Tier 3 Vocabulary)
Biomes	Large geographical area which is home to certain plants and animals especially suited to that environment
Climate	The usual or average weather conditions over a long period of time
Continent	A large land mass made up of many countries
Country	An area that is controlled by its own government
Equator	An imaginary line around the centre of the globe that divides the earth into Northern and Southern hemispheres
Flora/Fauna	Plant and animal life
Latitude	Imaginary parallel lines which circle the globe from east to west
Longitude	Imaginary parallel lines which circle the globe from north to south

Climate Groups

Temperate - hot dry summers, and cooler wetter winters, Mediterranean e.g. United Kingdom
Continental - long, cold winters and short, hot summers, inland areas e.g. parts of Turkey
Polar - long periods of extreme cold, tundra, ice cap e.g. Antarctica
Tropical - hot and humid, wet, rainforest e.g. Brazil
Dry - arid, desert e.g. Saudi
Arabia