Join EVA ('Earth's Virtual Assistant') to investigate and contrast two different types of settlement - villages and towns.
The video
KS2 Geography: Settlements. Villages and Towns.
EVA: Get set for an exciting journey.
I’ll be your guide, ‘Earth’s Virtual Assistant’. But you can call me E.V.A.
Your mission is to explore different types of settlement. Settlements are places where people live and sometimes work. They can be small, or large, depending on how many people live there and what sort of services there are.
[ON-SCREEN GRAPHICS - SERVICES]
Services meet different needs, like healthcare or education.
Let’s investigate a village settlement.
[THE GLOBE SPINS AND WE ZOOM INTO UK]
It’s time to start this mission so let’s journey to the United Kingdom.
Villages are settlements with a small number of houses and buildings. The population of villages ranges from a few hundred, to around 5,000 people.
Most villages are surrounded by green spaces and were originally formed when farming, mining or sea fishing communities needed homes.
Villages today have different types of houses. Some contain old cottages that vary in size and shape, and others are more modern, ‘new-build’ homes.
A village is smaller than a town or city, and they have fewer services.
Some villages have a few shops, a post office and a cafe. There may be a place of worship, like a church. And there’s often a primary school.
Villages usually have a meeting point - such as a village hall - where locals can come together for events.
Transport links connect them to larger towns and cities, but people might have to wait longer for a bus or a train to arrive in villages because the services are less regular.
[DEBRIEF - VILLAGES]
1: Villages are settlements with a small number of houses and buildings. 2: They have fewer services than towns or cities. 3: Some villages have a small number of shops and there may be a place of worship.
[WE RETURN TO MISSION HQ]
Our mission continues now and it’s time to explore another settlement. Let’s journey to somewhere a bit busier…
[WE LEAVE MISSION HQ AND ZOOM INTO A TOWN]
Towns are a type of settlement found in the UK and around the world. It’s a place where people live and sometimes work.
Towns are larger than villages but smaller than cities. The largest UK towns can have up to 250,000 people living there - so they need more homes and services.
There are a wide variety of homes, including high-rise flats and terraced houses.
Towns have primary and secondary schools, as well as lots of places to shop. You’ll find some leisure facilities, including public swimming pools, libraries and possibly a cinema. There are places of worship too.
If you’re unwell, then towns will have doctors’ surgeries where you can receive care. They also have police and fire stations to keep locals safe.
It’s not just the people that live in towns that use the services it provides. Roads, railways and pathways connect different settlements, so people from villages can easily get to a town to shop; and people who live in towns can easily get out to the countryside to enjoy the green space.
[ON-SCREEN GRAPHICS - SPECIAL FUNCTION]
Some towns have a special purpose. For example, this is a port town where ships bring goods to and from the UK. Port towns are found by rivers, seas, or oceans.
And this is a market town, where farmers and traders buy and sell their produce.
[DEBRIEF - TOWNS]
1: A town is larger than a village but smaller than a city. 2: There are services such as doctors’ surgeries and shops. 3: The buildings are mixed-use: some are houses, others are schools or supermarkets.
[WE ZOOM OUT OF TOWNS TO RETURN TO MISSION HQ]
Congratulations! We’ve come to the end of our fabulous journey exploring two different types of settlement. Mission complete!
Villages and Towns
Download/print a transcript of this episode (pdf).
Pupils join EVA ('Earth's Virtual Assistant') to discover the defining characteristics of two types of settlement: villages and towns.
Pupils will discover that:
- villages are smaller than towns
- that villages offer a limited range of services, that might include a few shops and a primary school
- that villages are connected to larger settlements by transport networks, where a greater range of services are available
- that towns are larger than villages but smaller than cities
- that there is a greater range of buildings to be found in towns, including high-rise apartment blocks
- that towns offer a wider range of services than villages including supermarkets, schools and opportunities for leisure.
Teacher Notes
Download/print the full Teacher Notes with worksheets for this episode (pdf).
Teacher Notes prepared in partnership with the Geographical Association.
Key geographical vocabulary
Settlement - a place where people live and/or work.
Land use - how land is used by humans.
Recreation - something that provides fun, leisure, entertainment value.
Commercial - something that makes money.
Rural - areas beyond urban areas that are more remote with few houses, lots of green space and limited facilities.
Urban - built up areas with lots of housing, large populations, lots of facilities and services.
Facility - a place with a specific use, eg hospitals, schools.
Service - a helpful activity provided to people, eg public transport, education, healthcare.
Suggested activities
- Complete a table to compare towns and villages. Include: population size, facilities, services, problems.
- From the example images or the films directly, have students create a field sketch of a village and town settlement. Include different types of housing, transport, facilities. Add labels to describe what can be seen.
- Print some example images and statements and ask students to sort these into rural and urban/village and town.
- If possible, take pupils out of school to observe the local area. Go for a walk around or stand at the school gates and see what can be seen. What services, facilities, buildings are there?
- Role play: build a settlement. Place pupils in groups and give each one a role - eg town mayor, shop owner, builder, school teacher, farmer, etc. As a group, decide what facilities and services should be in their settlement based on who lives there. Sketch this out. Present to the class.
Points for discussion
- What is a settlement?
- What is land use?
- Why did villages first form?
- How do people use towns?
- What facilities do towns have that villages do not?
- How does the type of housing change between towns and villages?
- What challenges might people face in villages or towns?
- What kinds of leisure facilities are likely to be found in towns?
- Where would you prefer to live? Why?
- Do you think people might have different views if they are older than you? How?
- What is your settlement like? How does it compare to others?
Curriculum notes
This video is suitable for teaching KS2 in England and Northern Ireland, 2nd Level in Scotland and Progression Step 3 in Wales.
Resources
Teacher Notes
Download/print the Teacher Notes for this episode (pdf).
Transcript
Download/print a transcript of this episode (pdf).
Slideshow. image
Open a slideshow of images from this unit.
Other videos in this series
Settlements: Cities and Holiday resorts. video
Join the mission to investigate two different types of settlement: cities and holiday resorts.
Settlements: Changing land use. video
Join the mission to investigate the factors governing changing land use, including increasing urbanisation.
See also... Biomes. collection
Join EVA on another mission: to discover the climate, plants and animals that characterise six of Earth's major biomes including rainforests, deserts and savannahs.
