Mater Amabilis™

Level 4 – Geography of Europe

Level 4 – Geography of Europe

Time Requirements

Level 4 – twice a week for 15-30 minutes.

Key Texts

A Living Geography: Europe by Jill Papsdorf – a PDF provided free for Mater Amabilis families, not to be sold or modified for sale

Maps from d-maps.com (free, linked in this document, printed by the parent or student)

Note: The maps linked below use color for the oceans and seas. You may print in color or black and white. If you prefer, d-maps also provides maps without colored seas, but we have found the colored seas helpful for students.

Atlas of your choice – Many families have successfully used the National Geographic Concise Atlas of the World, third edition or fourth edition.

Globe of your choice

Optional: National Geographic subscription (digital or print; see note)

Note: In Level 4, students should begin to read more widely about the world. In the lesson plans, articles related to the mapwork are linked. Sometimes these are National Geographic articles, which require a subscription. In each instance, a non-subscription alternative is provided.

If you prefer, the student may instead choose to read an article of his or her choice from the most recent print issue of National Geographic or from an older issue you have available.

List of Maps

You may wish to prepare for the course below by printing the maps at the beginning of the year. Label each map with the week number so students can independently find the ones needed each lesson. Students should save the maps each week as often new information is added over multiple lessons.

Lesson Procedure
  1. Mapwork for the week – one or more of the following tasks will be assigned:
    1. The student will begin with a printed map from d-maps (linked in these lesson plans). Using the globe and atlas, the student will find the specified geographical features or countries and label them either with words or using colored pencils to trace or outline the feature.
    2. The student will carefully trace a map from a previous assignment (or an atlas), including the specified geographical features. 
    3. The student will study a map from a previous assignment (or an atlas), then cover the map and sketch the map and geographical features from memory. After a few minutes, the student should compare the sketched map with the original
  2. On another day, read the linked article OR an article from a recent print issue of National Geographic. Narrate.
Lesson Plans

Term 1

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

  • Mapwork – A Living Geography – Baltic Sea.
  • Read and narrate – Marine Finland: The Unique Baltic Sea (Pick and choose at least a few of the topics listed at the bottom of the page.)

Week 6

  • Mapwork – A Living Geography – Jutland.

Week 7

  • Mapwork – A Living Geography – The Iberian Peninsula and the Rivers of France.

Week 8

  • Mapwork – A Living Geography – The Italian Peninsula and the Surrounding Seas.

Week 9

  • Mapwork – A Living Geography – The Balkan Peninsula and Aegean Sea.

Week 10

  • Mapwork – A Living Geography – To the Black Sea and Beyond.

Week 11

  • Catch-up / Review

Week 12

  • Catch-up / Exams.

Provide a blank copy of the original map of Europe. The student could use the map to answer the following questions orally or by writing on the map. (These are sample questions; students do not have to answer all of them.)*

  • What oceans and seas surround Europe? Name all you can remember.
  • What islands are found north of the continent of Europe?
  • Name two peninsulas of northern Europe.
  • Name the three large peninsulas of southern Europe. Which has a large island off its point? Which has a smaller peninsula attached to it at the south?
  • What can you say about the coastlines of different areas of Europe?
  • What three seas form a chain, connected by straights with each other and with the Mediterranean? Name any of these straits. What small peninsula is within the Black Sea?
  • Name three rivers flowing into the Black or Caspian Seas.
  • Name three rivers that flow into the Baltic or North Sea.
  • Name three rivers in France. Which one flows through Paris? Which one empties into the Mediterranean?
  • Name a river in Italy.

Term 2

Week 13

Week 14

  • Mapwork – A Living Geography – Islands of the Mediterranean Sea.

Week 15

  • Mapwork – A Living Geography – The Mountains of Europe, map of Europe (including rivers), atlas. This map will be titled The Mountains of Europe and should be saved as a reference.

Week 16

  • Mapwork – A Living Geography – The Political Map of Europe, map of Europe (states and rivers). 

Week 17

Week 18

  • Mapwork – A Living Geography – Scandinavia: Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, map of Scandinavia.

Week 19

  • Mapwork – A Living Geography – Finland, Iceland, Ireland, and the United Kingdom, map of Scandinavia from last lesson (Scandinavia), labeled map of Europe begun a few weeks ago (A Partial Political Map of Europe).

Week 20

  • Mapwork – A Living Geography – France, Monaco, Luxembourg, and Belgium, second labeled map of Europe (A Partial Political Map of Europe), map of Benelux.

Week 21

  • Mapwork – A Living Geography – The Netherlands, Germany, and Poland, second labeled map of Europe (A Partial Political Map of Europe), labeled map from last week (Benelux), 

Week 22

Week 23

  • Catch-up / Review

Week 24

Catch-up / Exams. 

Provide a blank copy of the state map of Europe. The student could use the map to answer the following questions orally or by writing on the map. (These are sample questions; students do not have to answer all of them.)*

  • Tell what you know of the Mediterranean Sea. Name as many of the seas within the Mediterranean as you can.
  • Name five islands in the Mediterranean Sea.
  • Name five mountain ranges in Europe. Which two ranges form part of the boundaries of the area known as Europe?
  • Where are the tallest mountains of eastern and western Europe? What are their names? In which countries are they located?
  • Name at least one other important mountain in Europe and tell what you know about it.
  • Try to identify as many countries in Europe as you can using the blank map.
  • Name two or three important rivers in Russia.
  • Name the natural boundaries of Russia.
  • Tell what you know about the three Baltic states.
  • What waters bound the Scandinavian Peninsula?
  • Describe the coast of Norway. Compare it with the coast of Sweden.
  • In what part of Sweden lie the largest lakes?
  • What is the peninsula of Denmark?
  • What immense lake occupies the south of Finland?
  • What are the British Isles? What countries and states do they include?
  • Along what three arms of the Atlantic do the coasts of France stretch?
  • What are two or three important rivers in France?
  • By what mountain chain is France separated from Spain, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy?
  • What tiny country is bordered by France and the Mediterranean Sea?
  • What can you tell about the coastline of the Netherlands? What river flows into the North Sea there?
  • On what sea does the coast of Belgium lie?
  • What countries lie along the Northern European Plain?
  • Name a major river in Germany.
  • Name a major river in Poland.
  • Describe the course of the Danube River from its source to its outlet.
  • What mountains lie at the southern border of Poland? Through which countries do they rise?
  • Describe the Great Hungarian Plain.

Term 3

Week 25
  • Mapwork – A Living Geography – Belarus, Ukraine, and Moldova, second labeled map of Europe (A Partial Political Map of Europe), labeled map of Central Europe (Central Europe).

Week 26

  • Mapwork – A Living Geography – Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, and Albania, labeled map of Central Europe (Central Europe), a new map of the Balkans.

Week 27

  • Mapwork – A Living Geography – Slovenia, Croatia, and Bosnia & Herzegovina, labeled map of Central Europe (Central Europe), labeled map of the Balkan Peninsula (Balkan Peninsula).

Week 28

  • Mapwork – A Living Geography – Serbia (and Kosovo), Montenegro, and North Macedonia, labeled map of the Balkan Peninsula (Balkan Peninsula).

Week 29

  • Mapwork – A Living Geography – Switzerland, Austria, and Liechtenstein, a map of Switzerland, labeled map of Central Europe (Central Europe).

Week 30

  • Mapwork – A Living Geography – Italy, San Marino, Malta, and the Vatican City, a map of Italy, second labeled map of Europe (A Partial Political Map of Europe).

Week 31

Week 32

  • Mapwork – A Living Geography – A Review of the Political Map of Europe, a new map of Europe.

Week 33

  • Mapwork – A Living Geography – Lines of Latitude and Climate Zones

Week 34

  • Mapwork – A Living Geography – Lines of Longitude

Week 35

  • Catch-up / Review

Week 36

Catch-up / Exams

Provide a blank copy of the state map of Europe. The student could use the map to answer the following questions orally or by writing on the map. (These are sample questions; students do not have to answer all of them.)*

  • Through what countries do the Dnieper and Dniester Rivers flow?
  • What difficulties do cartographers face with the Crimean peninsula?
  • Through what countries does the Danube flow? Where is its source? Where is its mouth?
  • What is unusual about the borders of Moldova?
  • What can you say about the geography and countries of the Balkan peninsula? What mountain ranges are found there?
  • What can you tell about the geography of Greece?
  • What can you tell about the countries of the Alps? What do you think is the most famous mountain of the Alps?
  • What is one lake in Switzerland?
  • What are the smallest countries of Europe? What do you know about them?
  • What mountain chain runs through the peninsular part of Italy from north to south?
  • Name three or more cities in Italy.
  • What is a famous river in Italy? What about famous mountains in Italy?
  • Name the seas surrounding Italy.
  • What great peninsulas lie east and west of Italy? Divided from it by what seas?
  • What can you tell about the geography of the Iberian peninsula? What mountain range separates it from the rest of Europe? What major rivers are found there?
  • How is the Mediterranean connected with the Atlantic? What land is on the other side of this narrow channel?
  • How many countries are in Europe? How many can you name using the blank map?
  • Describe the lines of latitude. Name five particular lines. What are the climate zones? What do all the places along a line of latitude have in common?
  • Describe the lines of longitude. What is the Prime Meridian? What do all the places along a line of longitude have in common? How do seafarers determine their longitude?

*Some of the sample exam questions are taken from Charlotte Mason’s Geographical Readers for Middle Class and Elementary Schools, Book IV for Standard V, The Countries of Europe.

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