How to teach the continents and oceans

Grade 1 to Grade 5

The continents and oceans are the biggest features on a world map: seven continents (North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia and Antarctica) and five oceans (the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Southern and Arctic). Naming and placing them gives children the frame every other geography fact hangs on.

How to teach it

1. Anchor from the child's own continent first, then add the neighbours around it.
2. Use a song or memory sentence for the seven continents so the set becomes automatic, then locate each one on a blank map.
3. Teach the oceans as the water between the continents: the Pacific is the largest and sits either side of the map, the Atlantic is between the Americas and Europe or Africa.
4. Point out the equator and the poles: Antarctica is at the bottom, the Arctic Ocean at the top.
5. Practise both ways: name the continent someone points to, and point to a continent that is named.

Common mistakes

• Confusing a continent with a country (Africa is a continent, not a country; Australia is both a country and a continent).
• Forgetting Antarctica because it sits at the edge of most maps.
• Mixing up Europe and Asia, which share one landmass.
• Naming only four oceans and leaving out the Southern Ocean.