Activity 4: Where do potatoes grow? (7-11 Years)

Activity 4: Where do potatoes grow in the UK?

This activity is about where potatoes are grown in the UK. For this session you will need maps of the UK, and enlarged version of the Where do potatoes grow? worksheet and access to the internet.

For younger children, find 3-4 places where potatoes are grown in the UK and write the names of the places around the edge of the worksheet. Place dots on the worksheet UK map to show where the places are. Photocopy the sheet for the children to use in the ‘task’ part of the lesson.

For information, the following is a list of the main places where potatoes grow in the UK:

• Cambridgeshire
• Cornwall
• Herefordshire
• Lincolnshire
• Norfolk
• Pembrokeshire
• Perthshire
• Shropshire
• Suffolk
• Yorkshire

Introduction

Show the children the enlarged Where do potatoes grow? worksheet and establish  that it shows the UK. Look at a map of the UK with the children and identify where you are. Talk about what it is like where you live, e.g. weather, climate. Compare it with other places the children may know or have heard about.

Display your enlarged copy of the worksheet and demonstrate how to mark where you are on the sheet. Ask the children to name other places they know in the UK, e.g. where a relation lives, where they have been for a day trip or holiday.  Find these on the UK map.

Task

Hand out the worksheet you adapted before the lesson. Show the children how to look at the UK map to find the places names on their sheet.  When they have found the place, they need to draw lines on their worksheet to link the place names to the dots showing the location.

More challenge ...

Give the children copies of the Where do potatoes grow? worksheet. Ask the children to work in pairs or threes to do their research.

Round up

Get the children to feedback their research and what they have found out. Question the children:

• Where are the main places potatoes are grown in the UK?
• What are these places like?
• Are they all in a particular part of the country?
• What is the climate and landscape like in these places?
• Do you think there is a reason why potatoes are grown there?
• How does the climate affect living things?

Extension ideas

• Organise a visit to a local farm which grows potatoes.