Y3/4 (B): Who lives in Antarctica?
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Unit outcomes
Pupils who are secure will be able to:
- Describe what lines of latitude and longitude are, giving an example.
- Understand that the Northern and Southern Hemispheres experience seasons at different times.
- Define what climate zones are.
- Understand Antarctica has a polar climate made up of ice sheets, snow and mountains.
- Describe Antarctica’s location in the far south of the globe.
- State that tourism and research are the two main reasons people visit Antarctica.
- Describe equipment researchers might use and clothes they wear.
- List some of the research carried out in Antarctica.
- State the outcome of Shackleton’s expedition.
- Successfully plot four-figure grid references at the point where the vertical and horizontal line meet.
- Describe a similarity and difference between life in the UK and life in Antarctica.
- Confidently use the zoom function on a digital map.
- Begin to recall the eight points of a compass, following at least four of them.
- Recognise and describe features on their school grounds from an aerial map.
- Draw a map of the route they take on an expedition.
- State one thing that went well on the expedition and one aspect that did not go as hoped.
Lesson 6 involves fieldwork on the school grounds. It is important to risk-assess the proposed route taking into account any relevant school risk assessment policies and procedures. Refer to the Before the lesson section in Lesson 6 to prepare for this lesson. Please be aware this lesson may take longer than 1 hour.
Lesson 5 requires a device (one per pair).
Suggested prior learning
Y3/4 (A): Where does our food come from?
Get startedLessons
Y3/4 (B): Lesson 1: What is climate?
- To understand the position and significance of lines of latitude.
Y3/4 (B): Lesson 2: Where is Antarctica?
- To describe the location and physical features of Antarctica.
Y3/4 (B): Lesson 3: Who lives in Antarctica?
- To describe the human features of Antarctica.
Y3/4 (B): Lesson 4: Who was Shackleton?
- To use four-figure grid references to plot Shackleton’s route to Antarctica.
Y3/4 (B): Lesson 5: Can we plan an expedition around school?
- To plan a simple route on a map using compass points.
Y3/4 (B): Lesson 6: How did our expedition go?
- To follow instructions involving compass points and map a simple route.
Related content
Unit resources

Knowledge organiser: Geography – Y3 Who lives in Antarctica?
Aimed at pupils, two pages providing key facts and definitions from the unit "Who lives in the Antarctic?".

Vocabulary display – Geography Y3: Who lives in Antarctica?
A display version of the vocabulary from the unit ‘Who lives in Antarctica?’.
Cross-curricular opportunities
Science: States of matter
Mathematics: Geometry – position and direction, measurement
English: Spoken language
British values: Rule of law
Computing
History
Physical education