People, settlements and resources
Land use survey of your street
What is the land in your area actually used for?
Watch first
Compare busy cities, in-between suburbs and quiet countryside.
What you need
Tick each one as you find it — 0 of 4 ready.
Stay safe: Always go with an adult, stay on the pavement, and do not photograph people or peer into houses.
Plan the fair test
- Change: The part of the street or area surveyed
- Measure: How many buildings fall into each land-use category
- Keep the same: The same five categories and key, the same route, one walk in one direction
Objectives this evidences
- Describe and understand key aspects of human geography, including types of settlement and land use, economic activity including trade links, and the distribution of natural resources including energy, food, minerals and water
- Use fieldwork to observe, measure, record and present the human and physical features in the local area using a range of methods, including sketch maps, plans and graphs, and digital technologies
Do it, one step at a time
Step 1 of 5
- Step 1. Agree a route with an adult and draw a rough sketch map of it before you go, with the road and any corners.
- Step 2. Choose five categories: houses, shops, work, green space and roads or parking. Give each a colour and make a key.
- Step 3. Walk the route and colour each building or space on your map in its category as you pass it.
- Step 4. Tally how many of each category you found, and note anything that has clearly changed use — a shop that is now a house.
- Step 5. Back home, draw a bar chart of your tallies and write two sentences on what your street is mainly for.
What should happen
Most residential streets are overwhelmingly housing, with shops clustered near junctions and main roads — settlements grow in patterns, not randomly.
Think about: Compare your chart with a town centre. Why do shops group together instead of spreading out?
Write up your result
A sentence or two is enough to save it.
The lessons behind this practical
Each one opens with the same short film, and the film has a written transcript underneath if reading is easier than watching.
Now the quiz for this topic
Questions come from the lessons behind this practical, so nothing is asked that has not been taught.
Quiz
People, settlements and resources quiz
2 questions from the lessons in this stage. No timer, and you can try again as many times as you like.