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      Lesson details

      Learning outcome

      I can name and recognise the key features of villages, towns and cities.

      Key learning points

      1. Settlements are places where people live and work, and often have a distinct community identity.
      2. Settlements vary in size from small hamlets, to villages, towns, cities and megacities.
      3. Larger settlements tend to have a wider range of buildings and land uses, and more facilities and services.
      4. Photos, including aerial photos, show the main features of villages, towns and cities.

      Keywords

      • Settlements - Settlements are places where groups of people live and work.

      • Services - A service is a system that supplies a public need, for example waste collection.

      • Facilities - A facility is a building, piece of equipment or place that is used for an activity or purpose.

      • Population - The population is the total number of people living in a particular area.

      Common misconception

      Cities are only places where people work.

      Remind students that cities are places that people live and work as cities include residential areas.

      Teacher tip

      It is important to emphasise that these categories are generalisations and sometimes a village might have other services, or a town might be smaller that the population ranges stated. The definitions here are meant to be a guide.

      Licence

      This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0
      except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions
      (Collection 2).

      Lesson video

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      Prior knowledge starter quiz

      6 Questions

      Q1.
      Which of these is not a country in the UK?

      England
      Correct answer: Ireland
      Northern Ireland
      Scotland
      Wales

      Q2.
      Match the countries of the UK to their capital cities.

      Correct Answer:England,London

      London

      Correct Answer:Wales,Cardiff

      Cardiff

      Correct Answer:Scotland,Edinburgh

      Edinburgh

      Correct Answer:Northern Ireland,Belfast

      Belfast

      Q3.
      Which of these are human features?

      rivers
      Correct answer: motorways
      Correct answer: bridges
      Correct answer: houses
      mountains

      Q4.
      Which of these are physical features?

      airports
      Correct answer: oceans
      schools
      Correct answer: cliffs
      Correct answer: woodland

      Q5.
      What is the main type of land use in the UK?

      woodland
      Correct answer: agricultural
      residential
      industrial

      Q6.
      Match the OS symbol to the correct label.

      Correct Answer:post office,PO

      PO

      Correct Answer:school,sch

      sch

      Correct Answer:parking,P

      P

      6 Questions

      Q1.
      Hamlets have a population of...

      Correct answer: less than 500
      more than. 10,000
      more than 10,000,000

      Q2.
      Hamlets usually have facilities and services.

      Correct Answer: no, zero

      Q3.
      _______ have a population greater than 10 million.

      hamlets
      towns
      Correct answer: megacities
      villages

      Q4.
      London is predicted to become a megacity by the year...

      2020
      2025
      Correct answer: 2030
      2050

      Q5.
      Starting with the smallest, order the settlements by size.

      1 - hamlet
      2 - village
      3 - town
      4 - city
      5 - megacity

      Q6.
      Which settlement has the greatest range of facilities and services?

      hamlet
      village
      town
      city
      Correct answer: megacity

      To help you plan your 3 geography lesson on: Settlement features, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...