Understanding the World in EYFS — Knowledge Organiser

Three ELG strands

1. 1 Past and Present By ELG: Talk about the lives of people around them and their roles in society. Know some similarities and differences between things in the past and now, drawing on their experiences and what has been read in class. Understand the past through settings, characters, and events encountered in books read in class and storytelling.
2. 2 People, Culture and Communities By ELG: Describe their immediate environment using knowledge from observation, discussion, stories, non-fiction texts, and maps. Know some similarities and differences between different religious and cultural communities in this country. Explain some similarities and differences between life in this country and life in other countries.
3. 3 Natural World By ELG: Explore the natural world around them, making observations and drawing pictures of animals and plants. Know some similarities and differences between the natural world around them and contrasting environments. Understand some important processes and changes in the natural world around them, including the seasons.
4. 4 Knowledge-rich curriculum in EYFS UTW depends on knowledge. Children cannot understand 'the past' without encountering rich stories and facts about how people lived. Books, visits, visitors, and investigation are all routes to UTW knowledge.
5. 5 Local and global Children begin with the immediate — their family, their street, their school. They extend outward to the local area, then to contrasting environments. Mapping the local area is a key UTW activity.
6. 6 Natural world provision Outdoor access, forest school, growing plants, weather observation, seasonal investigation, creature observation (minibeasts, birds, pond life). Science begins here.
7. 7 Religious and cultural diversity UTW in EYFS introduces children to diversity within their own setting and beyond. Festivals, food, family structures, traditions. Celebrating similarities as much as differences.