Continents
Continents are the very large areas of land on Earth. In English-speaking schools you usually learn seven, but some countries count six.
Geography · Ages 7–9 · 50 minutes
The seven continents and five oceans
Children name and locate the world's seven continents and five oceans on a world map and a globe, and say which continent they live on.
Success criteria
- I can name the seven continents
- I can name the five oceans
- I can find them on a map and a globe
Key vocabulary
- continent
- ocean
- globe
- world map
- equator
- Africa
- Antarctica
- Asia
- Australia
- Europe
- North America
- South America
- Arctic
- Atlantic
- Indian
- Pacific
- Southern
You will need
- an inflatable globe or classroom globe
- large outline world maps
- coloured pencils
- continent name cards
- blue sticky notes
Curriculum links
Practice sheets
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KWL chart
Countries and continents
Children see world maps all the time, but the big shapes rarely get a name. This lesson gives them the seven continents and the five oceans through a chant, a map and a globe-throwing game, and finishes with the most important one: where we are.
1.Starter
8 minutesHand out the KWL chart from the practice buttons (or draw one on the board). In the first column, children write or draw everything they already know about the world: countries, seas, animals, places they have been or have family. In the second, one thing they want to find out. Eight minutes.
2.Teach
10–15 minShow the globe and a flat world map side by side. "A globe is a model of the Earth. A map is a flat picture of it. Most of the Earth is covered by water."
Point out the big pieces of land: "These huge pieces of land are called continents. There are seven." Name them as you point: Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia (some books call this region Oceania), Europe, North America, South America.
Then the oceans: "The huge areas of salt water between them are oceans. There are five: the Pacific, the Atlantic, the Indian, the Southern and the Arctic Ocean."
Teach a quick chant with actions, for example tapping your knees for each continent and waving for each ocean, and say it twice together. Then ask: "Which continent do we live on? Which is the biggest? Which is the coldest?"
globe
map
whale
penguin
elephant
camel
