Year 2 The UK: what kind of place is it? worksheet

“The seas around the UK” is free to print, with no account. It is the first sheet in the Year 2 geography unit “The UK: what kind of place is it?”, for children aged 6 to 7, and takes about 20 minutes.

Print it on A4. The child's pages come first; the answers, and what each wrong answer tells you, are on the grown-up page that follows. Weeks 1 to 6 of the year, 6 sheets in the unit.

Free sample · answers on the last page

The seas around the UK

Name: ____________ · Date: ____________
Year 2 · Geography · about 20 minutes
Answers are on the grown-up page

Today I can name where the seas around the UK lie, using compass words.

A Look back3 min

1.
Circle the direction of the empty point on this compass.
northsoutheastwest
2.
Circle the column the house is in. Count along the bottom letters.
ABC
3.
Circle the direction of the empty point on this compass.
northsoutheastwest

B Watch me, then you5 min

Sea facts: Atlantic Ocean, west of the UK. North Sea, east of the UK. English Channel, south of England. Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland.

Aerial view of a large island with blue sea all around the edge

Watch me

Find the English Channel in the sea facts. It is south of England.

Look at the compass. South is the bottom point.

So the English Channel is to the south.

Now you

1.
Which way is the Atlantic Ocean from the UK? Circle one.
northsoutheastwest

C Your turn6 min

Use the sea facts from Watch me, then you. Circle one answer each time.

1.
Which way is the North Sea from the UK? Circle one.
northsoutheastwest
2.
Which way is the English Channel from England? Circle one.
northsoutheastwest
3.
Which sea lies to the east of the UK? Circle one.
Atlantic OceanNorth SeaEnglish ChannelIrish Sea
4.
Which sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland? Circle one.
Atlantic OceanNorth SeaEnglish ChannelIrish Sea

Say it out loud: Which sea is to the east? Which sea is to the west? How did you know?

D Spot the mistake3 min

Aerial view of a large island split by a dotted line with sea around it

Kit says: “The Republic of Ireland is part of the United Kingdom.”

1.
The UK has four countries: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Is Kit right? Write why in one or two sentences.

E Think deeper3 min

1.
Kit sails a boat from the North Sea to the Atlantic Ocean. Which way does Kit sail? Tell your grown-up how you know.

How did it feel?

I can do it Nearly Not yet

For the grown-up

The seas around the UK · 2 minutes to read

Answers, and what a wrong one tells you

A

1. north If they pick south, they are reading the bottom point. Ask them which point is at the very top of the compass.

2. B If they pick A, they have read the first column on the left. The house is one column along. If they pick C, they counted from the right. Ask them to put a finger on A and move one step.

3. south If they pick north, they are reading the top point. Ask them which point is at the bottom of the compass.

B

1. west If they pick east, they may be thinking of the North Sea. Ask them which side of the UK the Atlantic Ocean is on.

C

1. east If they pick north, they may be thinking of the top of the map. Ask which side of the UK the North Sea is on.

2. south If they pick east, they may be looking at the sea to the right. Ask them which point is at the bottom of the compass.

3. North Sea If they pick the Irish Sea, they have found a sea near the UK but not the one on the east. Ask them which sea the facts put to the east.

4. Irish Sea If they pick the English Channel, they have found the sea south of England. Ask them to read the Irish Sea fact again.

D

1. Look for: Says Kit is wrong and that the Republic of Ireland is a separate country, not part of the UK. If they say Kit is right, ask them to name the four countries of the UK. The Republic of Ireland is not on that list.

E

1. Look for: Says west, because the North Sea is east of the UK and the Atlantic Ocean is west.

Words to use

Say“Which sea is on the east of the UK? How did you work that out from the compass?”

Instead of“Just tell them the answers, like “the North Sea is east”.”

After the sheet

Put a towel on the table as the UK. Put a spoon on the right for east and a cup on the left for west. Say which sea is which.

Tick what your child got right in StudyDen. Anything missed comes back in a later Look back box, so there's no need to redo the sheet.

The rest of this unit

5 more sheets come with a StudyDen plan, in teaching order:

The UK's capital cities(with a plan)
Scotland's land and places(with a plan)
Features of England(with a plan)
Features of Wales(with a plan)
Features of Northern Ireland(with a plan)

Every Year 2 geography worksheet

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