Settlers are people who move with a group of others to live in a new location.

Natural resources are those that come from Earth without human influence and can be used for human needs.

A crossroads is the point at which two roads meet and cross each other.

A bridging point is the location on a river where it is possible to make a bridge to connect the two sides.

A site is the exact location of a place in relation to other nearby places or features.

Location and growth of settlements

Geography

Settlement features

Villages, towns and cities in the UK

Change in our local area

Our local town

Designing a new settlement

This unit provides a foundation for Local area: How is it changing?', which involves a detailed case study of change in the school’s local area, and 'UK region: Why is the Lake District a National Park?', which investigates settlements, land use and change at a regional scale. 

This builds on 'Land use: how diverse are local and UK landscapes?', which focuses on land use locally and in the UK as a key aspect of human geography, extending and deepening pupils' understanding of human geography processes by investigating the characteristics of different types of settlement and the reasons why settlements are initially established and then change over time.

This unit explores different types of settlements, from villages to cities. Pupils learn about settlement features, growth and location, and use their local area to understand how places change. They apply what they’ve learned by designing a new settlement.

Settlements: where do people live and why?

Is being close to a water supply a positive or negative settlement factor?

Is poor farmland a positive or negative settlement factor?

Is a bridging point a positive or negative settlement factor?

Would being near to building materials be a positive or negative settlement factor?

Would flooding be a positive or negative settlement factor?

Is steep land a positive or negative settlement factor?

{{}} and font size can be used to differentiate between different settlement types on maps in atlases.

How many capital cities does each country have?

places where groups of people live and work

places where certain things happen e.g. parks for playing

Are settlements distributed equally across the UK?

Starter Quiz

True or false? London is a megacity.