Explore five Latin American countries through BBC video and country fact files. Then complete your own country report!
Discover five Asian countries through short, engaging videos from the BBC + country fact files
It's tempting to think that seeing is believing, but that's not always the case. When scrolling the internet, it's important to put on your skepticism hat. There's a lot of fake stuff out there, and some of it is convincing.
For example, a Facebook post appeared to come from York Council — the local government office for the city of York, England. It asked people with spare rooms to house asylum seekers (people who have fled their home country and are asking a government for protection). The post wasn't real, but it spread quickly across Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, and YouTube. BBC Verify, the BBC's fact-checking team, estimated it could have reached more than a million people.
Misinformation like this can cause real problems, especially when it spreads about sensitive subjects like asylum seekers. Repeated exposure to false information can also make people question what's true at all — damaging trust between people and communities.
So how can you tell what's fake? Even careful readers are finding it harder to spot, while fake content is getting easier to make — a dangerous combination. The fake council post looked convincing: it had an official logo, professional-sounding text, and even a real email address. But a few small details gave it away: the logo was slightly distorted, some words were misspelled, parts of the image looked unnatural, and the AI-generated hands had too many fingers.
Those details are easy to miss when scrolling quickly — but learning to spot them is exactly what makes the difference between falling for a fake and catching one.
What small country is home to an astonishing variety of plants and animals, hundreds of volcanoes, and tropical forests stretching from coast to coast? Meet Costa Rica, a Central American country known for its incredible biodiversity and commitment to protecting nature.
From sloths and glass frogs to colorful toucans and thousands of orchids, Costa Rica is packed with wildlife. Discover how Indigenous peoples and Spanish colonization shaped the country, learn about its government and culture, and explore traditions such as the Fiestas de Zapote and "pura vida." You’ll also find out why Costa Rica has become a leader in protecting forests, wildlife, and other natural resources.
Teachers and parents, you can use this fact file to:
- Introduce a geography or social studies unit
- Support nonfiction reading practice
- Compare countries and cultures
- Complete map and research activities
- Prepare students for projects or presentations (use our country report template!)
- Pair with videos, articles, or other informational texts (see Related Resources below)
What country is home to ancient pyramids, colorful monarch butterflies, towering volcanoes, and one of the world’s most famous celebrations? Meet Mexico, a country where ancient civilizations, diverse landscapes, and vibrant traditions come together.
From the Aztec and Maya to pumas and whale sharks, Mexico has a remarkable story to tell. Explore the civilizations that shaped the country, discover how Mexico gained independence from Spain, and learn about its food, festivals, languages, government, and cities. You’ll also discover how deserts, mountains, jungles, and coastlines provide habitats for an amazing variety of plants and animals.
Teachers and parents, you can use this fact file to:
- Introduce a geography or social studies unit
- Support nonfiction reading practice
- Compare countries and cultures
- Complete map and research activities
- Prepare students for projects or presentations (use our country report template!)
- Pair with videos, articles, or other informational texts (see Related Resources below)
What country is home to the Inca Empire, the Andes Mountains, and more than 3,000 varieties of potatoes? Meet Peru, a country where ancient civilizations and incredible natural landscapes come together.
From Machu Picchu and the ancient city of Cusco to alpacas and the towering Puya Raimondi plant, Peru is full of remarkable discoveries. Explore the civilizations that flourished here, learn how Spanish colonization changed the country, and discover Peru’s languages, traditions, foods, and government. You’ll also travel from the Pacific coast to the high Andes and deep into the Amazon to see how geography shapes life in Peru.
Teachers and parents, you can use this fact file to:
- Introduce a geography or social studies unit
- Support nonfiction reading practice
- Compare countries and cultures
- Complete map and research activities
- Prepare students for projects or presentations (use our country report template!)
- Pair with videos, articles, or other informational texts (see Related Resources below)
What country is home to the world’s highest waterfall, mysterious flat-topped mountains, and animals found nowhere else? Meet Venezuela, a country of spectacular landscapes and extraordinary biodiversity.
From Angel Falls and the tepuis to jaguars, tapirs, manatees, and the tiny Roraima bush toad, Venezuela is filled with natural wonders. Explore the Indigenous peoples and events that shaped the country’s history, learn about its government and oil-rich economy, and discover the foods, music, festivals, and traditions that make Venezuelan culture unique. You’ll also learn why Venezuela’s isolated tepuis are home to species that have adapted to life high above the surrounding landscape.
Teachers and parents, you can use this fact file to:
- Introduce a geography or social studies unit
- Support nonfiction reading practice
- Compare countries and cultures
- Complete map and research activities
- Prepare students for projects or presentations (use our country report template!)
- Pair with videos, articles, or other informational texts (see Related Resources below)
What country is home to the world’s largest tropical rainforest, the greatest biodiversity on Earth, and a culture famous for Carnival and soccer? Meet Brazil, the largest country in South America and a place where natural and cultural wonders stretch across an enormous landscape.
From capybaras and pink river dolphins to the mighty Amazon River and the wetlands of the Pantanal, Brazil is bursting with life. Explore the Indigenous, African, Portuguese, and immigrant influences that shaped Brazilian culture, learn about the country’s history and government, and discover the foods, music, and celebrations that bring people together. You’ll also explore Brazil’s incredible ecosystem.
Teachers and parents, you can use this fact file to:
- Introduce a geography or social studies unit
- Support nonfiction reading practice
- Compare countries and cultures
- Complete map and research activities
- Prepare students for projects or presentations (use our country report template!)
- Pair with videos, articles, or other informational texts (see Related Resources below)
Discover the Heart of Africa! From sweeping savannas and deserts to forests, mountains, and mighty rivers, Africa is home to an incredible variety of landscapes — and an equally incredible variety of wildlife. Travel across the continent with Chester Zoo to explore some of its most fascinating habitats and discover how geography shapes the animals and people who live there.
Explore the countries and landscapes that make up Africa, identify different habitats, and see what makes each one unique. Then zoom in on the savanna to investigate its climate and discover what life is like in one of the world's most iconic ecosystems.
But the savanna is changing. Learn how shifts in climate are affecting this landscape and the wildlife that depends on it, and discover ways people can help protect these important habitats. Along the way, you'll build your geography skills while seeing Africa — and its wildlife — in a whole new way
Don't miss the geography worksheets that go with this lesson!
After almost 1,000 years, the historic Bayeux Tapestry is back where it began.
The 11th Century artwork is thought to have been made in Britain, and it's now on display at the British Museum — one of the UK's largest national museums, located in London — while on loan from France until summer 2027. Think of it as the original comic strip: instead of panels, it uses a continuous, nearly 70-meter-long strip of embroidered fabric (about the length of a football field) to tell the story frame by frame, image after image, all the way across.
The story it tells is the Norman Conquest of 1066: the year William the Conqueror, a duke from Normandy in modern-day France, invaded England and took the throne. Like a comic laid end to end, the tapestry shows the buildup, the battle, and the aftermath — soldiers, ships, horses, and even Halley's Comet all stitched into the sequence. That invasion permanently changed England's ruling family, language, and culture, and is often seen as the starting point of the modern British monarchy.
Moving the tapestry took hours of extremely careful work, since it's so old and delicate. Even people standing near it had to wear protective clothing so stray fibers wouldn't end up on the fabric. It's now displayed flat, inside a protective glass case. Safe to say, it may look like a large piece of fabric, but it's definitely not something you'd want to wipe your hands on if you're missing a napkin.
The loan is also part of a bigger cultural exchange between France and Britain — two neighboring countries separated by the narrow English Channel, with a long and sometimes tense shared history. In exchange for the tapestry, Britain is lending important historical objects of its own back to France.
Most of our sub-par pictures just take up space on our phones and show off the insides of our pockets, but one blurry photo launched an almost two decades-long scientific endeavor.
A search that began with a picture of a tail in the trees eventually took researchers deep into Lomami National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo on a quest to find out exactly what kind of monkey they were dealing with. Using microphones, cameras and genetic testing, they gathered enough evidence to confirm that the animal is a distinct species, now named Colobus congoensis — the first time a monkey is being named after the Congo!
It belongs to a group of plant-eating primates that live high in trees and do not have thumbs, but the Colobus congoensis has some unique characteristics. It uses a roaring call that announces its presence through dense tropical forest and has distinctive pinkish-orange lips that researchers think could act as a visual signal, perhaps helping it attract a mate. It also gives you someone to blame if your sibling asks, “Who ate the last orange creamsicle?!”
Scientists still have a lot to learn about this monkey, but it seems rare and limited to a particular habitat in the central-eastern part of the country. Researchers hope that officially recognizing it as a separate species will help protect both the monkey and the environment it depends on.
Every student, everywhere, knows the feeling: walking out of a big exam with no idea if you did well or completely bombed it. This year, that feeling hit an entire country at once.
In the UK, this year's math exams were unusually tough — tough enough that students flooded social media with one shared message: "that test kicked my butt." And it wasn't about skipping study time or being dramatic. Many said the exam's structure meant you could know the material and still not be able to show it.
Here's why: the questions were worded differently than in past years. If a student got stuck on the first part of a question, they couldn't move on to the rest — like having the perfect ice cream sundae recipe, but the ice cream and toppings are locked in a vault guarded by a saber-toothed parabola.
Not everyone agreed the test was actually harder. Some math experts said the calculations themselves were standard, and students should have been able to solve them. So who's right?
It's not really a students vs. experts argument. When exam boards set the grades for a test like this, they review a wide range of evidence to make sure students end up with fair results — not just the raw difficulty of the questions. The organization that oversees UK exams also said it will keep a close eye on this one going forward.
Explore five Latin American countries through BBC video and country fact files. Then complete your own country report!
Discover five Asian countries through short, engaging videos from the BBC + country fact files
It's tempting to think that seeing is believing, but that's not always the case. When scrolling the internet, it's important to put on your skepticism hat. There's a lot of fake stuff out there, and some of it is convincing.
For example, a Facebook post appeared to come from York Council — the local government office for the city of York, England. It asked people with spare rooms to house asylum seekers (people who have fled their home country and are asking a government for protection). The post wasn't real, but it spread quickly across Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, and YouTube. BBC Verify, the BBC's fact-checking team, estimated it could have reached more than a million people.
Misinformation like this can cause real problems, especially when it spreads about sensitive subjects like asylum seekers. Repeated exposure to false information can also make people question what's true at all — damaging trust between people and communities.
So how can you tell what's fake? Even careful readers are finding it harder to spot, while fake content is getting easier to make — a dangerous combination. The fake council post looked convincing: it had an official logo, professional-sounding text, and even a real email address. But a few small details gave it away: the logo was slightly distorted, some words were misspelled, parts of the image looked unnatural, and the AI-generated hands had too many fingers.
Those details are easy to miss when scrolling quickly — but learning to spot them is exactly what makes the difference between falling for a fake and catching one.
What small country is home to an astonishing variety of plants and animals, hundreds of volcanoes, and tropical forests stretching from coast to coast? Meet Costa Rica, a Central American country known for its incredible biodiversity and commitment to protecting nature.
From sloths and glass frogs to colorful toucans and thousands of orchids, Costa Rica is packed with wildlife. Discover how Indigenous peoples and Spanish colonization shaped the country, learn about its government and culture, and explore traditions such as the Fiestas de Zapote and "pura vida." You’ll also find out why Costa Rica has become a leader in protecting forests, wildlife, and other natural resources.
Teachers and parents, you can use this fact file to:
- Introduce a geography or social studies unit
- Support nonfiction reading practice
- Compare countries and cultures
- Complete map and research activities
- Prepare students for projects or presentations (use our country report template!)
- Pair with videos, articles, or other informational texts (see Related Resources below)
What country is home to ancient pyramids, colorful monarch butterflies, towering volcanoes, and one of the world’s most famous celebrations? Meet Mexico, a country where ancient civilizations, diverse landscapes, and vibrant traditions come together.
From the Aztec and Maya to pumas and whale sharks, Mexico has a remarkable story to tell. Explore the civilizations that shaped the country, discover how Mexico gained independence from Spain, and learn about its food, festivals, languages, government, and cities. You’ll also discover how deserts, mountains, jungles, and coastlines provide habitats for an amazing variety of plants and animals.
Teachers and parents, you can use this fact file to:
- Introduce a geography or social studies unit
- Support nonfiction reading practice
- Compare countries and cultures
- Complete map and research activities
- Prepare students for projects or presentations (use our country report template!)
- Pair with videos, articles, or other informational texts (see Related Resources below)
What country is home to the Inca Empire, the Andes Mountains, and more than 3,000 varieties of potatoes? Meet Peru, a country where ancient civilizations and incredible natural landscapes come together.
From Machu Picchu and the ancient city of Cusco to alpacas and the towering Puya Raimondi plant, Peru is full of remarkable discoveries. Explore the civilizations that flourished here, learn how Spanish colonization changed the country, and discover Peru’s languages, traditions, foods, and government. You’ll also travel from the Pacific coast to the high Andes and deep into the Amazon to see how geography shapes life in Peru.
Teachers and parents, you can use this fact file to:
- Introduce a geography or social studies unit
- Support nonfiction reading practice
- Compare countries and cultures
- Complete map and research activities
- Prepare students for projects or presentations (use our country report template!)
- Pair with videos, articles, or other informational texts (see Related Resources below)
What country is home to the world’s highest waterfall, mysterious flat-topped mountains, and animals found nowhere else? Meet Venezuela, a country of spectacular landscapes and extraordinary biodiversity.
From Angel Falls and the tepuis to jaguars, tapirs, manatees, and the tiny Roraima bush toad, Venezuela is filled with natural wonders. Explore the Indigenous peoples and events that shaped the country’s history, learn about its government and oil-rich economy, and discover the foods, music, festivals, and traditions that make Venezuelan culture unique. You’ll also learn why Venezuela’s isolated tepuis are home to species that have adapted to life high above the surrounding landscape.
Teachers and parents, you can use this fact file to:
- Introduce a geography or social studies unit
- Support nonfiction reading practice
- Compare countries and cultures
- Complete map and research activities
- Prepare students for projects or presentations (use our country report template!)
- Pair with videos, articles, or other informational texts (see Related Resources below)
What country is home to the world’s largest tropical rainforest, the greatest biodiversity on Earth, and a culture famous for Carnival and soccer? Meet Brazil, the largest country in South America and a place where natural and cultural wonders stretch across an enormous landscape.
From capybaras and pink river dolphins to the mighty Amazon River and the wetlands of the Pantanal, Brazil is bursting with life. Explore the Indigenous, African, Portuguese, and immigrant influences that shaped Brazilian culture, learn about the country’s history and government, and discover the foods, music, and celebrations that bring people together. You’ll also explore Brazil’s incredible ecosystem.
Teachers and parents, you can use this fact file to:
- Introduce a geography or social studies unit
- Support nonfiction reading practice
- Compare countries and cultures
- Complete map and research activities
- Prepare students for projects or presentations (use our country report template!)
- Pair with videos, articles, or other informational texts (see Related Resources below)
Discover the Heart of Africa! From sweeping savannas and deserts to forests, mountains, and mighty rivers, Africa is home to an incredible variety of landscapes — and an equally incredible variety of wildlife. Travel across the continent with Chester Zoo to explore some of its most fascinating habitats and discover how geography shapes the animals and people who live there.
Explore the countries and landscapes that make up Africa, identify different habitats, and see what makes each one unique. Then zoom in on the savanna to investigate its climate and discover what life is like in one of the world's most iconic ecosystems.
But the savanna is changing. Learn how shifts in climate are affecting this landscape and the wildlife that depends on it, and discover ways people can help protect these important habitats. Along the way, you'll build your geography skills while seeing Africa — and its wildlife — in a whole new way
Don't miss the geography worksheets that go with this lesson!
After almost 1,000 years, the historic Bayeux Tapestry is back where it began.
The 11th Century artwork is thought to have been made in Britain, and it's now on display at the British Museum — one of the UK's largest national museums, located in London — while on loan from France until summer 2027. Think of it as the original comic strip: instead of panels, it uses a continuous, nearly 70-meter-long strip of embroidered fabric (about the length of a football field) to tell the story frame by frame, image after image, all the way across.
The story it tells is the Norman Conquest of 1066: the year William the Conqueror, a duke from Normandy in modern-day France, invaded England and took the throne. Like a comic laid end to end, the tapestry shows the buildup, the battle, and the aftermath — soldiers, ships, horses, and even Halley's Comet all stitched into the sequence. That invasion permanently changed England's ruling family, language, and culture, and is often seen as the starting point of the modern British monarchy.
Moving the tapestry took hours of extremely careful work, since it's so old and delicate. Even people standing near it had to wear protective clothing so stray fibers wouldn't end up on the fabric. It's now displayed flat, inside a protective glass case. Safe to say, it may look like a large piece of fabric, but it's definitely not something you'd want to wipe your hands on if you're missing a napkin.
The loan is also part of a bigger cultural exchange between France and Britain — two neighboring countries separated by the narrow English Channel, with a long and sometimes tense shared history. In exchange for the tapestry, Britain is lending important historical objects of its own back to France.
Most of our sub-par pictures just take up space on our phones and show off the insides of our pockets, but one blurry photo launched an almost two decades-long scientific endeavor.
A search that began with a picture of a tail in the trees eventually took researchers deep into Lomami National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo on a quest to find out exactly what kind of monkey they were dealing with. Using microphones, cameras and genetic testing, they gathered enough evidence to confirm that the animal is a distinct species, now named Colobus congoensis — the first time a monkey is being named after the Congo!
It belongs to a group of plant-eating primates that live high in trees and do not have thumbs, but the Colobus congoensis has some unique characteristics. It uses a roaring call that announces its presence through dense tropical forest and has distinctive pinkish-orange lips that researchers think could act as a visual signal, perhaps helping it attract a mate. It also gives you someone to blame if your sibling asks, “Who ate the last orange creamsicle?!”
Scientists still have a lot to learn about this monkey, but it seems rare and limited to a particular habitat in the central-eastern part of the country. Researchers hope that officially recognizing it as a separate species will help protect both the monkey and the environment it depends on.
Every student, everywhere, knows the feeling: walking out of a big exam with no idea if you did well or completely bombed it. This year, that feeling hit an entire country at once.
In the UK, this year's math exams were unusually tough — tough enough that students flooded social media with one shared message: "that test kicked my butt." And it wasn't about skipping study time or being dramatic. Many said the exam's structure meant you could know the material and still not be able to show it.
Here's why: the questions were worded differently than in past years. If a student got stuck on the first part of a question, they couldn't move on to the rest — like having the perfect ice cream sundae recipe, but the ice cream and toppings are locked in a vault guarded by a saber-toothed parabola.
Not everyone agreed the test was actually harder. Some math experts said the calculations themselves were standard, and students should have been able to solve them. So who's right?
It's not really a students vs. experts argument. When exam boards set the grades for a test like this, they review a wide range of evidence to make sure students end up with fair results — not just the raw difficulty of the questions. The organization that oversees UK exams also said it will keep a close eye on this one going forward.