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FREE TEACHER STORY UNIT · KS1 AND KS2

Hot and cold places story lesson for KS1 and KS2

A gentle, funny journey for Years 1 to 4. In KS1, our hero flies a polar bear cub and a penguin chick home by balloon, one to each Pole; in Years 3 and 4, our hero runs weather stations in the Arctic, on the equator and in Antarctica, and writes a weather report for each.

When to use it
Any time during your hot and cold places topic in Years 1 to 4.
Story world
Pole to Pole Express
Subject focus
Geography · Hot and cold places
Suggested story settings
Genre: Adventure · Length: 2 chapters · Time: 10–15 minutes

Story feel: Friendship & teamwork. Story shape: Quest / journey.

About this unit

The KS1 geography curriculum asks children to locate hot and cold areas of the world in relation to the equator and the Poles. This unit makes that a journey: from the Arctic, past the hot equator, to Antarctica.

The KS1 story is gentle and funny, built on a mix-up that children love to correct (polar bears and penguins live at opposite ends of the world). The Years 3 and 4 story adds weather data, so children compare places using numbers as well as words.

Choose a key stage

KS1From Pole to PoleYears 1 to 2KS2The Weather StationYears 3 to 4

KS1 (Years 1 to 2): From Pole to Pole

Learning objective

Locate hot and cold places on a map, and describe what the weather is like there.

Talk questions

  1. Where does a polar bear live? Where does a penguin live?
  2. What was the weather like at the equator? Why?

Writing task

Draw the balloon over a hot or a cold place. Write one sentence: 'At the ___, it is ___.'

Suggested story settings: Genre: Adventure · Length: 2 chapters · Time: 10–15 minutes

The story brief

What the class story is asked to do. “Our hero” is the character your class chooses.

A journey for young readers. A penguin chick and a polar bear cub have both ended up at the same zoo by mistake, and each one is sure it lives at the North Pole. Our hero takes them home on a hot-air balloon, flying first to the Arctic, where the polar bear cub’s mother is waiting on the sea ice, then past the hot equator, and on to Antarctica, where the penguin chick’s family are huddled together. Gentle and funny, with the two animals arguing about which Pole is which. End with both animals home, and our hero waving from the balloon.

Word bank

Arctic
the very cold area around the North Pole
Antarctica
the icy continent around the South Pole
equator
an imaginary line around the middle of the Earth
iceberg
a huge piece of ice floating in the sea
climate
the usual weather in a place

Text-type features: information report

Purpose: to tell the reader facts about a subject. Plan it with the free information report plan template.

Reception to Year 2

  • A title
  • Facts, not a story
  • Headings
  • Labelled pictures

National Curriculum statements

  • “drawing on what they already know or on background information and vocabulary provided by the teacher”

    Year 1, Reading – comprehension (statutory)

  • “writing about real events”

    Year 2, Writing – composition (statutory)

  • “using a capital letter for names of people, places, the days of the week, and the personal pronoun ‘I’”

    Year 1, Writing – vocabulary, grammar and punctuation (statutory)

  • “identify seasonal and daily weather patterns in the United Kingdom and the location of hot and cold areas of the world in relation to the Equator and the North and South Poles”

    Key stage 1, Geography (statutory)

Sample opening · KS1

A sample written for this page to show the brief in action. It is not the story Litsee writes for your class.

At the zoo, a little polar bear cub and a little penguin chick were having an argument.

“I live at the North Pole,” said the polar bear.

“No, I live at the North Pole,” said the penguin.

“You can’t both live there,” laughed our hero. “Let’s find out.”

So they climbed into a big striped balloon. Up, up, up it floated, over the hills and over the sea, until everything below was white and sparkly.

“The Arctic!” said our hero. On the sea ice stood a big white bear, waving a paw. “Mum!” shouted the polar bear cub.

The penguin chick looked around. “It doesn’t look like home,” it said.

Model text (WAGOLL)

A model answer to the writing task, pitched at Year 2, written for this page. Read it with the class and find where it meets each success criterion.

At the North Pole, it is freezing cold and icy.

Polar bears have thick white fur to keep them warm.

At the equator, it is hot and sunny, but it rains a lot too.

What makes it good

  • At the North Pole, it is freezing cold and icy. Finishes the starter with precise weather words.
  • hot and sunny, but it rains a lot too Uses “but” to add a surprising fact.

By year group

Year 1

Grammar focus: Capital letters and full stops

So they climbed into a big striped balloon.

Year 2

Grammar focus: Expanded noun phrases

At the zoo, a little polar bear cub and a little penguin chick were having an argument.

A week of lessons

  1. Lesson 1

    Hook

    • Show a picture of a polar bear and a picture of a penguin side by side. Ask: do they live in the same place? Let the class argue, then read.
    • Talk: Where does a polar bear live? Where does a penguin live?

  2. Lesson 2

    Plan

    • Talk: What was the weather like at the equator? Why?
    • Words: Arctic, Antarctica, equator, iceberg, climate.

  3. Lesson 3

    Draft

    • Write: Draw the balloon over a hot or a cold place. Write one sentence: 'At the ___, it is ___.'

  4. Lesson 4

    Edit

    • Grammar focus. Capital letters and full stops: “So they climbed into a big striped balloon.”

  5. Lesson 5

    Publish

    • Make a giant class map with the children’s pictures and sentences stuck on the right place.
The printed plan adds the planning frame and the full steps for each lesson.

Support, core and stretch sheets

Support

Draw a hot or a cold place. Copy and finish: “At the ___, it is ___.”

Core

Draw the balloon over a hot or a cold place. Write one sentence: 'At the ___, it is ___.'

Stretch

Write two sentences that compare a hot place and a cold place, using “but”.

Vocabulary mat

One A4 page for every table: the word bank with its meanings, sentence stems, useful words and grammar words.

KS2 (Years 3 to 4): The Weather Station

Learning objective

Compare hot and cold places using data, and explain how their location affects their climate.

Talk questions

  1. Why is the equator hot and the Poles cold?
  2. How are the animals at each station suited to its climate?

Writing task

Write a weather report for each station, with the temperature, the weather and one way that living things are suited to the climate.

Suggested story settings: Genre: Adventure · Length: 2 chapters · Time: 10–15 minutes

The story brief

What the class story is asked to do. “Our hero” is the character your class chooses.

An adventure for older primary readers. Our hero joins a small team running weather stations around the world for a week: one in the Arctic, one on the equator and one in Antarctica. At each station they record the temperature and the weather, and meet the wildlife and people who are suited to that climate. A blizzard in Antarctica keeps them inside for a day, safely, while they compare their records. Weave in accurate facts about hot and cold places and their location in relation to the equator and the Poles. End with a world map covered in their data.

Word bank

Arctic
the very cold area around the North Pole
Antarctica
the icy continent around the South Pole
equator
an imaginary line around the middle of the Earth
blizzard
a storm with strong wind and lots of snow
climate
the usual weather in a place

Text-type features: information report

Purpose: to tell the reader facts about a subject. Plan it with the free information report plan template.

Years 3 and 4

  • A title and an introduction
  • Headings and sub-headings
  • Paragraphs grouped by topic
  • Present tense and facts
  • Technical words

Years 5 and 6

  • An introduction that sorts the subject
  • Headings, sub-headings and other layout devices
  • Paragraphs that group facts
  • Formal, impersonal voice
  • Technical words and a glossary

National Curriculum statements

  • “retrieve and record information from non-fiction”

    Years 3 and 4, Reading – comprehension (statutory)

  • “in non-narrative material, using simple organisational devices [for example, headings and sub-headings]”

    Years 3 and 4, Writing – composition (statutory)

  • “organising paragraphs around a theme”

    Years 3 and 4, Writing – composition (statutory)

Sample opening · KS2

A sample written for this page to show the brief in action. It is not the story Litsee writes for your class.

The thermometer outside the Arctic weather station read minus twenty-two degrees.

“That’s a warm day for March,” said Lars, stamping snow off his boots. He handed our hero a notebook with a frozen pencil tied to it. “Write it down. Every station, every day, the same time. That’s how we see the pattern.”

Outside the small round window, the sea ice stretched to the horizon, white and blue and silent. Far off, a black dot was moving: a seal, Lars said, coming up to a breathing hole.

Our hero wrote: Arctic station, Day 1. Minus 22 degrees. Clear sky. Very little wind. Sea ice everywhere.

“Tomorrow,” said Lars, “we fly south. All the way to the equator.” He grinned. “You might want to pack some shorts.”

Model text (WAGOLL)

A model answer to the writing task, pitched at Year 4, written for this page. Read it with the class and find where it meets each success criterion.

Weather Report: Three Stations

Arctic station: Minus 22 degrees, clear and still. The Arctic is near the North Pole, where the Sun stays low in the sky, so it is very cold. Seals have a thick layer of blubber that keeps them warm in the icy water.

Equator station: 31 degrees, hot and humid, with a thunderstorm in the afternoon. The Sun is high overhead all year, so it is hot every day. Rainforest plants have huge leaves to catch the sunlight.

Antarctic station: Minus 30 degrees with a blizzard. Antarctica is the coldest, windiest place on Earth. Emperor penguins huddle together in big groups to share their warmth.

The further a place is from the equator, the colder its climate usually is.

What makes it good

  • Arctic station: Each station has its own heading and paragraph.
  • so it is very cold Explains the weather with a cause.
  • The further a place is from the equator, the colder its climate usually is. A conclusion that sums up the pattern in the data.

By year group

Year 3

Grammar focus: Paragraphs and headings

Year 4

Grammar focus: Expanded noun phrases

“That’s a warm day for March,” said Lars, stamping snow off his boots.

A week of lessons

  1. Lesson 1

    Hook

    • Show two thermometers, one at minus twenty and one at thirty. Ask: where in the world could these both be true on the same day?
    • Talk: Why is the equator hot and the Poles cold?

  2. Lesson 2

    Plan

    • Talk: How are the animals at each station suited to its climate?
    • Words: Arctic, Antarctica, equator, blizzard, climate.

  3. Lesson 3

    Draft

    • Write: Write a weather report for each station, with the temperature, the weather and one way that living things are suited to the climate.

  4. Lesson 4

    Edit

    • Grammar focus. Paragraphs and headings

  5. Lesson 5

    Publish

    • Present the weather reports as a TV forecast, with children taking turns to be the weather presenter.
The printed plan adds the planning frame and the full steps for each lesson.

Support, core and stretch sheets

Support

Write a report for one station with the temperature, the weather and one animal that lives there.

Core

Write a weather report for each station, with the temperature, the weather and one way that living things are suited to the climate.

Stretch

Write all three reports and finish with a paragraph explaining why the temperatures are so different.

Vocabulary mat

One A4 page for every table: the word bank with its meanings, sentence stems, useful words and grammar words.

Teaching notes

Put a world map or a globe where everyone can see it. Mark the equator, the North Pole and the South Pole, and follow the balloon or the weather team as you read.

For KS1, sort animal pictures into “Arctic”, “Antarctica” and “hot places near the equator”. The polar bear and penguin mix-up in the story is the perfect way to start.

For Years 3 and 4, give each group a set of real temperature data for an Arctic town, an equatorial city and an Antarctic research station, and ask them to make a simple bar chart before writing their reports.

Printable lesson sheet

One A4 page for each key stage, ready for your planning folder: the story title, objective, story settings, talk questions, writing task, word bank with meanings, success criteria, curriculum statements and the sample opening to read aloud. Printing this page prints only the two sheets.

About this page

How it works · Sources

Sources

The curriculum quotations are copied word for word from these documents. Dates were checked on 29 October 2026.

About this page

Built from Litsee’s curriculum data. The topic words and their meanings, the year groups and the history, geography and science statements come from the topic data in the Litsee app, quoted word for word from the Department for Education’s documents; the text-type features and English quotations come from the app’s curriculum data. The story briefs, objectives, questions, tasks, sample openings, model texts and teaching notes were written for this page. Ideas or corrections? Email info@litsee.com.

Last updated: .

Questions parents and teachers ask

Which year groups is the hot and cold places unit for?

Years 1 to 4. KS1 follows a balloon from Pole to Pole; Years 3 and 4 compare weather data from three stations.

Do polar bears and penguins live in the same place?

No. Polar bears live in the Arctic, around the North Pole, and most penguins live in the southern half of the world, including Antarctica. The KS1 story is built on that mix-up.

Is there a hot and cold places word bank?

Yes. The hot and cold places word bank has the topic words with child-friendly meanings, more nouns, verbs and adjectives, and a printable word mat.

Run this as a live class story in Litsee

In Litsee, a seasonal brief like this becomes an illustrated, narrated class story. You preview the first chapter before reading it with your class, and the class chooses what happens next together.

Start a free classroom trialSee Litsee for schools

Hot and cold places story unit · KS1 (Years 1 to 2)

From Pole to Pole

Learning objective: Locate hot and cold places on a map, and describe what the weather is like there.

Suggested story settings: Genre: Adventure · Length: 2 chapters · Time: 10–15 minutes · Story world: Pole to Pole Express

Talk questions

  1. Where does a polar bear live? Where does a penguin live?
  2. What was the weather like at the equator? Why?

Writing task

Draw the balloon over a hot or a cold place. Write one sentence: 'At the ___, it is ___.'

Word bank

Arctic
the very cold area around the North Pole
Antarctica
the icy continent around the South Pole
equator
an imaginary line around the middle of the Earth
iceberg
a huge piece of ice floating in the sea
climate
the usual weather in a place

Success criteria (information report)

Reception to Year 2: I can write facts. I can use a heading. I can label a picture.

National Curriculum statements

  • “drawing on what they already know or on background information and vocabulary provided by the teacher” (Year 1, Reading – comprehension (statutory))
  • “writing about real events” (Year 2, Writing – composition (statutory))
  • “using a capital letter for names of people, places, the days of the week, and the personal pronoun ‘I’” (Year 1, Writing – vocabulary, grammar and punctuation (statutory))
  • “identify seasonal and daily weather patterns in the United Kingdom and the location of hot and cold areas of the world in relation to the Equator and the North and South Poles” (Key stage 1, Geography (statutory))

Sample opening (written for litsee.com, to read aloud)

At the zoo, a little polar bear cub and a little penguin chick were having an argument.

“I live at the North Pole,” said the polar bear.

“No, I live at the North Pole,” said the penguin.

“You can’t both live there,” laughed our hero. “Let’s find out.”

So they climbed into a big striped balloon. Up, up, up it floated, over the hills and over the sea, until everything below was white and sparkly.

“The Arctic!” said our hero. On the sea ice stood a big white bear, waving a paw. “Mum!” shouted the polar bear cub.

The penguin chick looked around. “It doesn’t look like home,” it said.

Notes

Free from litsee.com/teachers/story-units/hot-and-cold-places

Hot and cold places story unit · KS2 (Years 3 to 4)

The Weather Station

Learning objective: Compare hot and cold places using data, and explain how their location affects their climate.

Suggested story settings: Genre: Adventure · Length: 2 chapters · Time: 10–15 minutes · Story world: Pole to Pole Express

Talk questions

  1. Why is the equator hot and the Poles cold?
  2. How are the animals at each station suited to its climate?

Writing task

Write a weather report for each station, with the temperature, the weather and one way that living things are suited to the climate.

Word bank

Arctic
the very cold area around the North Pole
Antarctica
the icy continent around the South Pole
equator
an imaginary line around the middle of the Earth
blizzard
a storm with strong wind and lots of snow
climate
the usual weather in a place

Success criteria (information report)

Years 3 and 4: I can write an introduction. I can use headings and paragraphs. I can use technical words.

Years 5 and 6: I can group facts in paragraphs. I can use layout devices. I can write in a formal voice.

National Curriculum statements

  • “retrieve and record information from non-fiction” (Years 3 and 4, Reading – comprehension (statutory))
  • “in non-narrative material, using simple organisational devices [for example, headings and sub-headings]” (Years 3 and 4, Writing – composition (statutory))
  • “organising paragraphs around a theme” (Years 3 and 4, Writing – composition (statutory))

Sample opening (written for litsee.com, to read aloud)

The thermometer outside the Arctic weather station read minus twenty-two degrees.

“That’s a warm day for March,” said Lars, stamping snow off his boots. He handed our hero a notebook with a frozen pencil tied to it. “Write it down. Every station, every day, the same time. That’s how we see the pattern.”

Outside the small round window, the sea ice stretched to the horizon, white and blue and silent. Far off, a black dot was moving: a seal, Lars said, coming up to a breathing hole.

Our hero wrote: Arctic station, Day 1. Minus 22 degrees. Clear sky. Very little wind. Sea ice everywhere.

“Tomorrow,” said Lars, “we fly south. All the way to the equator.” He grinned. “You might want to pack some shorts.”

Notes

Free from litsee.com/teachers/story-units/hot-and-cold-places

Try it in LitseeYour child creates the hero, picks the world and chooses what happens next, in an illustrated story that is read aloud.Start your free trialUse it in classRead an illustrated, narrated story together on the whiteboard, and let the class choose what happens next.Start a free classroom trialSee Litsee for schools