Study Hub

Study Guides

This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.

Back to Study HubBrowse Year 2 Geography Guides

Year 2 - Geography

The world's hottest places

Hot places: where are they and what are they like?

Unit Summary

This unit explores the world's hottest places, focusing on tropical rainforests and hot deserts. Pupils use maps and images to locate these environments, describe their climates and features, and compare contrasting hot places around the world.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to locate hot places in the world using an atlas and globe.

Key Notes

  • The sun's energy is more concentrated when it is directly overhead: in the tropics this happens throughout the year.
  • The tropics are areas either side of the equator where the sun remains high in the sky throughout the year.
  • Places that are hot and wet all year round are found at the Equator.
  • Hot and dry areas called hot deserts can be found on the northern and southern edges of the tropical region.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • Equator: The Equator is an imaginary line encircling Earth at 0° latitude and is an equal distance from the North Pole and the South Pole.
  • temperature: Temperature is the measure of how hot or cold something is.
  • hot desert: Hot deserts are areas on Earth which are very hot and very dry, having less than 25 cm of rain per year.

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • Hot deserts are mostly found at the Equator.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

1. Explain this geography topic using two clear key points.

The sun's energy is more concentrated when it is directly overhead: in the tropics this happens throughout the year. The tropics are areas either side of the equator where the sun remains high in the sky throughout the year.

2. Define this geography term and use it in an example. 'Equator'

The Equator is an imaginary line encircling Earth at 0° latitude and is an equal distance from the North Pole and the South Pole.

3. Correct this common geography misunderstanding.

Mistake: Hot deserts are mostly found at the Equator. Correction: Tropical rainforests are found at the Equator. Deserts are mostly found at the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn.

More Lessons In This Unit

Browse all guides in the Year 2 Geography guide library.