Amazon Rainforest

The UK and the World

• Discuss the location of the Equator in relation to the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. 

• Understand the key human and physical features of the Northern Hemisphere and how they are linked (it has 90% of the world’s population and most of the world’s land).

• Understand the key human and physical features of the Southern Hemisphere and how they are linked (it has 10% of the world’s population and is covered by 80% water).

• Define the terms biomes and vegetation belts: a biome is a large area of the Earth’s surface classified by the plants and animals that live there and a vegetation belt is the dominating plant life within a biome.

• Name and identify the characteristics of the 5 main biomes: forest, grassland, tundra, desert and aquatic. 

• Name and locate rainforests around the world, understanding their proximity to the Equator and the impact this has on the weather and climate.  

• Locate the country of Brazil within the continent of South America. 

• Use relief maps and interpret keys to identify some of the major physical features of Brazil e.g. mountainous areas, rivers etc. 

• Understand geographical similarities and differences through the study of the capital city of a country in the UK (London, England) and the capital city of a country in North or South America (Brasilia, Brazil). 

• Use topological maps (tube maps) to compare London and Brasilia’s transport networks.

• Locate the Amazon Rainforest and understand that it spans 8 different South American countries: Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana and Suriname.

• Understand the term political map is defined as a map which represents human-created boundaries. Use political maps to identify the different countries which the Amazon spans and begin to develop an understanding that these boundaries can change. 

• Use increasingly advanced geographical vocabulary to refer to the key physical features of rainforests: forest, tropical, forest floor, understorey, canopy and emergent.