DIGIMAP ACTIVITY SHEET Where in Europe would you go to…? Pupils should already: • be able to locate Wales on an outline map of Europe Pupils will: • investigate the geographical location of various European features • annotate an outline map of Europe to display geographical information Resources required: • Digimap (Europe map – various layers) • Postcards of various European destinations Using a map of Europe to identify interesting destinations: • display the Europe map • ask pupils to consider destinations in Europe where they could participate in certain activities, e.g. sunbathe on a beach, explore an interesting city, go skiing, visit a historic landmark, climb a mountain, etc • use the Icons menu to add icons to the places suggested by the pupils • ask pupils to describe the location of the places chosen Using a map of Europe to find where postcards came from: • ask pupils to bring in postcards or photographs of famous European places, e.g. the Eiffel Tower, Mont Blanc and the Colosseum. • ask pupils to consider each postcard or photograph in turn, e.g. What does it show? Which country is it from? In which city is it found? • use the Icons menu to highlight the location of each feature on the map outline of Europe • use interactive whiteboard tools to draw straight lines radiating from Cardiff out to each icon • ask pupils to consider the direction and distance from Cardiff to each place shown on the map outline Using a map of Europe to explore holiday patterns: • ask pupils to list the European countries that they have visited on holiday • keep a tally to show how many pupils have visited each country • use the Icons menu to add icons to the correct places on the map • the number of icons added to each country should reflect the tally results • ask pupils to describe the distribution of icons on the map, e.g. Which were the most popular destination countries? Which were the least popular destination countries? Are there any patterns? • use the map layers to discuss the reasons why some European countries are more popular holiday destinations than others Checking progress: Ask your pupils to produce a brief written description of the holiday patterns map created in class. Extension activities: Prepare a series of ‘Stand up…’ clues based on the European countries. Give each pupil a card bearing the name of a European country. Explain that the cards show the name of a European country that they are going to visit. Examples of typical ‘Stand up…’ clues are likely to include: • Stand up… if you are going to an island country. • Stand up… if you are going to a country north of Denmark. • Stand up… if you are going to a country that is neighbours with Austria. • Stand up… if you are going to a country with a North Sea coastline. • Stand up… if you are going to a country that the Danube flows through. Other Resources • Oxford Junior Atlas 1 and 2 (WJEC) • www.fbalearning.co.uk • www.oxfam.org.uk/coolplanet/ontheline • www.rspb.org.uk • www.eurovision.tv/english • www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk .