Look at the map of Ireland’s counties and provinces on the board. Find our county, then say which of the four provinces it sits in. On your sheet, write the county and the province.
The lesson question is on the board: How do we locate places so we can hold the map in our heads?
A map is a tool a geographer holds in the mind as well as on paper. When you can locate a place, you can point to it, name what is near it, and say which larger area it sits in.
Ireland is divided into four provinces: Ulster, Munster, Leinster and Connacht. Inside them sit thirty-two counties. Your school sits in one county and one province. The blank physical map shows the shape of the land with no names printed, so you work out rivers, lakes, mountains and cities from what you already know.
Look further out on the map and you meet Europe. Countries share borders. Seas and oceans wrap around the land. Beyond Europe are other continents, the huge land masses of the world such as Africa, Asia and North America.
A landmark is a place many people recognise. Some are natural, like cliffs or stone columns. Some are built, like a tower or a wall. Each landmark belongs to a country and a continent. Naming those is another way of holding the map.
The blank physical map of Ireland is on the board. Nothing is named on it. Work through the pins in order with your teacher.
Two jobs now, both about locating.
Say the five key words together: locate, province, county, continent, landmark.
We held three maps today: our counties, the blank shape of Ireland, and Europe. We named features from what we knew, pinned places on Europe, and gave each landmark a country and a continent.
Talk about this: which one place from today’s maps do you most want to remember, and what will help you find it again?
You're previewing this lesson. Get full access to this lesson and hundreds more — each one ready to teach, with interactive activities, printable resources and pupil progress tracking built in.