Cultural Geography Overview

Overview

In this lesson (Lesson 8 of 20), students explore how culture shapes geography. They will connect language, traditions and social structures to where people live, how places develop, and how daily life can differ across the Asia region and Australia.

Learning intentions

• Students will describe how cultural practices influence settlement, land use and community life.
• Students will locate and compare places in the Asia region using their geographical position relative to Australia.
• Students will explain patterns in environments and types of settlement by considering culture.
• Students will organise information using a simple map graphic and a short compare-contrast paragraph.

Success criteria

• I can identify at least two cultural factors (language, traditions, social structures) that influence life in a place.
• I can compare two places and describe at least one similarity and one difference in daily life.
• I can use map information (direction, distance/relative location) to help explain where a place is.
• I can use evidence from sources to support my explanation.

Curriculum links

• Humanities and Social Sciences (Year 6): geographical diversity and location of places in the Asia region and their location in relation to Australia.
• Humanities and Social Sciences (Year 6): exploring diversity of environments and types of settlement and discussing patterns.
• Humanities and Social Sciences (Year 6): describing location of places in absolute terms using latitude and longitude.
• Humanities and Social Sciences (Year 6): locate, collect and organise information and data from primary and secondary sources in a range of formats.
• Humanities and Social Sciences (Year 6): creating maps with cartographic conventions to show information such as location.

Lesson structure (60 minutes)

1. 0–5 min · Hook (Think–Pair–Share). Teacher shows three picture cards (e.g., a street market, a temple/shrine area, a language sign). Students discuss: “What do you notice about culture, and how might it shape the place?”

2. 5–12 min · Direct teaching (Mini-lesson). Teacher explains cultural geography: culture (language, traditions, social structures) influences how communities organise space (where homes, schools, shops, religious or community spaces are found) and how people interact with the land. Students record a class definition and two examples.

3. 12–20 min · Map activation (Relative location). Teacher displays a wall map or digital map and introduces two focus places in the Asia region (teacher-selected to suit current unit inquiry). Students identify:

• which direction each place is from Australia (e.g., north-west, south-east)
• the approximate travel region (nearer/farther) Students add labels onto a class “Australia and Asia” base map using a compass/north point.

4. 20–30 min · Source investigation (Stations). Teacher splits students into two small groups (even if some groups are mixed). Each station provides short source materials (text and one image) about a place’s language, traditions and social structures (e.g., school routines, community celebrations, local market customs, family roles reflected in daily life). Students complete a graphic organiser:

• Cultural factor 1: language/traditions/social structure
• What the place looks like (evidence from image/text)
• How this may influence where people gather or live (one sentence)

5. 30–40 min · Latitude/longitude check (Absolute location). Teacher models reading latitude and longitude for one place and converting it into a simple “location statement”. Students then do a guided task:

• Write one sentence for each place using latitude and longitude (e.g., “This city is at about …°N, …°E.”)
• Add one annotation on their map: “Cultural geography links here because …” Teacher circulates to support accuracy and clarity.

6. 40–52 min · Compare–contrast task (Writing with evidence). Students choose two cultural factors from the stations and write a short comparison paragraph:

• Topic sentence about how culture influences geography in the two places
• One similarity supported by evidence
• One difference supported by evidence
• Closing sentence explaining a pattern they notice Sentence starters are provided (e.g., “In both places…”, “One difference is…”, “This suggests that…”).

7. 52–58 min · Share-out (Gallery walk or pair presentations). Teacher organises quick sharing. Students present their comparison to a partner or to one other group, focusing on one evidence point and one geographic link.

8. 58–60 min · Exit ticket (Check for understanding). Students answer one prompt: “Choose one cultural factor and explain one way it can shape how a community uses space in a place.”

Resources

• World map or digital map with Asia region visible
• Printed “Australia and Asia” base map (with north point and legend areas)
• Two sets of short sources (text + image) for two chosen places in Asia
• Picture cards for the hook
• Map graphic organiser and compare-contrast paragraph template
• Latitude/longitude cards (pre-checked) for the two focus places
• Highlighters/colour pencils for map annotations
• Sentence starters for paragraph writing
• Timer and station rotation cues

Assessment

• Teacher observation during stations: correct identification of cultural factors and clear links to geography
• Marking of compare-contrast paragraph using a quick checklist (evidence, similarity/difference, geographic reasoning, clarity)
• Exit ticket reviewed for misconceptions (e.g., confusion between culture and physical environment)

Differentiation

• Support:
• Provide sentence starters and word banks (language, traditions, community, homes, markets, schools, gathering places, celebrations).
• Offer a partially completed graphic organiser for students who need structure.
• Use teacher-guided latitude/longitude examples and a matching task (lat/long to sentence).
• Extension:
• Ask students to add a “pattern” statement (e.g., “We notice that communities with shared traditions often build central gathering places.”) and include one additional cultural factor.
• EAL/SEN:
• Allow oral rehearsal before writing; encourage students to point to map evidence while speaking.
• Use simplified source texts with the same structure across stations.