Connected communities

A simple mapping activity that looks at how two communities are connected, and the different routeways and pathways they share.
KS2 | 60 Mins | Teacher led

KEY QUESTION: How far away is our link school from where we live? How do we get there?

Background

This is a simple mapping activity that looks at how two communities are connected, and the different route ways and pathways they share.

Activity

1. Using a National Atlas, a road map or a website like Multimap or Google Maps, show the class the location of your school, and your partner school, and set groups the challenge of working out how to get from one place to another.

2. Ask what kinds of transport they think they might have to use to get to the other school. You could share train and bus websites for groups to work out possible routes.

3. Discuss different types of roads such as motorways, city roads with traffic lights, and small windy B roads, and talk about the pros and cons of each.

4. Decide as a class which method of transport would be the best if you were visiting the other school. Is it possible to travel by train? Why? (explore what kinds of places are linked by rail e.g. big cities)

5. Use a Sat Nav device, or a route planner such as RAC or AA to see what route is recommended, and share with the class. Google Street view can be used to look at the school, and to look at different points in the journey.