In this geography project, children revisit their learning about the equator, Northern and Southern Hemispheres, latitude, longitude, Prime Meridian, Arctic Circle and Antarctic Circle, and discover their exact locations in degrees. They learn about Arctic and Antarctic regions using geographical information texts, maps and data. They use this learning to identify similarities and differences between the two regions. Children build on their understanding of climate zones from the Y6 project Our Changing World and make observations about the location of the two polar zones.

Children build on learning about daylight hours from the Y5 project Investigating Our World to investigate the phenomenon of day and night in the polar zones. They focus on the Arctic Circle and observe and compare daylight hours during different seasons. They are introduced to the terms ‘polar day’, ‘Midnight Sun’ and ‘polar night’. They are geographical resources, including websites, information texts and photographs, to conduct a geographical enquire to find out how polar oceans are similar to or different from other oceans around the world.

They master their understanding of physical features by studying new physical features found in polar landscapes, including icebergs, glaciers, ice fields, tundra and boreal forests. They use maps, images and information texts to discover more about each feature and use their knowledge to make comparisons. Children continue to learn about climate change by considering the causes and effects. They revisit the idea of the Earth as a source of natural resources by finding out about the natural resources of the polar regions, including fish, oil, natural gas, minerals and wood, and find out about the problems and challenges of human demands on these resources. Children are introduced to the indigenous peoples and discover how these communities have successfully adapted to the climatic conditions.

Children revisit the term ‘tourism’, studied in previous projects including the Y2 project Coastlines and the Y4 project Misty Mountain, Wind River. They find out the positive and negative effects of tourism on the polar regions, including land use for building hotels and venues, overcrowding of polar areas and pollution. They analyse data to draw conclusions about the impact of tourism on Antarctica. They use their knowledge to write an article for a fictional publication that specialises in Arctic Circle cruises.

Antarctic Circle                Arctic Circle           Boreal forest                    Climate                       Horizon               

Indigenous                       Native                     North Pole                 Polar day                      Polar night

Precipitation                   South Pole              Tundra