Italy Today - The Complete Series (6 lessons)

They will begin by learning where Italy is in the world, and then discover the physical geography of the country, with a focus on one of Italy’s active volcanoes, Mount Vesuvius! Children will explore the country’s many famous cities and landmarks, and immerse themselves in the culture of Italy.

Where in the world is Italy? Children begin by finding Italy on a world map. They then look in more detail at the country and find out about the location of its regions, the bordering countries, the seas, and the islands that are part of Italy. Children record what they have learnt on their own maps of Italy, or use a map to complete a fact file about the country.

What is physical geography? In this lesson, children will find out what this means and will begin to learn how to interpret a physical map by identifying Italy’s two main mountain ranges, the Alps and Apennines. They will find out about the highest peaks in each region and be encouraged to describe the mountain ranges with geographical vocabulary. They will also learn about the location of the longest river in Italy, the Po. In their independent activities, children will find out more about the Alps and Apennines and consolidate their learning through different challenges. Alternatively, they can use atlases or Google Maps to track the course of the River Po through northern Italy.

In this exciting lesson, children will find out what volcanoes are, including why and how they erupt, and the harmful effect they can have on the surrounding human, animal, and plant life. They will learn about the devastating eruption of Mount Vesuvius, which destroyed the Roman city of Pompeii in 79AD. Children will then use their knowledge and understanding to create informative advertisements for tourists visiting the ruins of Pompeii, or alternatively, they will build their own working volcano!

What is human geography? In this lesson, children will begin to explore Italy by looking at its famous cities and their landmarks as a class. Then in groups, they will research a city in more depth and prepare a presentation to show to the rest of the class. Alternatively, they can create a postcard from a city of their choice, expressing their experiences, opinions, and thoughts about the place using both pictures and words.

What is culture? Children will recap on and continue to develop their understanding of the human geography of Italy in this lesson, by looking at different aspects of the country’s culture. They will independently research areas including food and drink, religion, festivals, family, fashion, and music. Children will then use their knowledge to answer a range of different tourists’ questions, or as a group, create a magazine about the culture of Italy.

In this final lesson, children will recap on everything that they have discovered about Italy, and consolidate their learning. They will use their understanding to either create an informative lapbook about the country or to play a game testing their knowledge of all the different aspects of Italy today.