Where in the World...?

 

Understanding Latitude and Longitude in the Geography Classroom

Author(s):

Alison Zimbalist, The New York Times Learning Network

Lorin Driggs, The Bank Street College of Education in New York City

 

Grades: 6-8

Subjects: Geography, Language Arts

Interdisciplinary Connections

 

Suggested Time Allowance: 90 minutes

 

Overview of Lesson Plan:

This lesson teaches students how to use longitude and latitude to locate various cities, regions, landforms, and bodies of water around the globe. Students use The New York Times Learning Network’s crossword puzzle "Longitude and Latitude" to sharpen their atlas skills.

 

Objectives: Students will:

·         Familiarize themselves with the different maps, information, and tools found in an atlas.

·         Understand how latitude, longitude, minutes and seconds are used, and determine locations using latitude and longitude measurements.

·         Apply knowledge of latitude and longitude to a crossword puzzle in which they must use atlases to answer clues comprised of latitude and longitude coordinates.

 

Resources/Materials:

·         paper

·         pens/ pencils

·         classroom blackboard

·         various atlases (at least one for each pair of students)

·         "Latitude and Longitude Tutorial" ( one per student )

http://www.nytimes.com/learning/students/xwords/may_cross_tut.html

·         The Learning Network’s "Latitude and Longitude" crossword puzzle (one per student )

http://www.nytimes.com/learning/students/xwords/may99_image.html

·         "Latitude and Longitude" crossword puzzle answer grid

http://www.nytimes.com/learning/students/xwords/may99a.gif

 

Activities/Procedures:

1. WARM-UP/ DO-NOW: Divide students into pairs, and give each pair an atlas. (Or, if enough atlases are available, students may work individually.) In the first five minutes of class, ask students to flip through their atlases and list the answers to the following on a scrap piece of paper  (written on the board prior to class):

·         What different types of maps are found in the atlas?

·         What other information on countries and locations is provided in the atlas?

·         What tools does the atlas provide so that you can quickly find a location?

Students then share their answers, familiarizing themselves with the features of an atlas and ways in which atlases can be used.

 

2. Distribute "Latitude and Longitude Tutorial" to each student, and review it as a class. Then, allow students a few minutes to use their atlases to answer the questions on the worksheet in pairs or individually. Students should compare answers as a class and suggest different ways in which they found the answers to the questions.

 

3. Distribute The New York Times Learning Network’s "Latitude and Longitude" crossword puzzle. Thirty of the puzzle clues ask students to use an atlas to find a location given its latitude and longitude. Teachers may want to circle these clues on the puzzle before copying it for the class, or can write them on the board for easy student reference: NOTE: It may be necessary to explain, with examples, how to work a crossword puzzle or alternatively, simply use the crossword clues alone, without the puzzle.

"Across" Clues: 1, 9, 13, 14, 16, 18, 23, 32, 33, 44, 47, 49, 51, 59, 62, 67

"Down" Clues: 2, 5, 10, 15, 17, 24, 28, 29, 43, 51, 53, 55, 56, 61

Allow students the remaining class time to use their atlases to find the answers to the clues that use latitude and longitude. As names of locations in atlases may vary, encourage students to use other atlases to answer difficult questions.

 

4. WRAP-UP/ HOMEWORK: Students work individually to finish the thirty longitude and latitude questions on the crossword puzzle by using an atlas at home, on the Internet, or in the library. Only after students finish these questions should they complete the entire puzzle. Check answers as a class using the "Latitude and Longitude" answer grid.

 

Further Questions for Discussion:

1.      What different types of maps have you seen?

2.      What different types of maps can be found in an atlas, and what are their purposes?

3.      How do world maps, globes, and atlases serve different purposes?

4.      Why might latitude and longitude have been developed?

5.      What types of people do you think use latitude and longitude in their daily lives, and why?

6.      What is the relationship of latitude and longitude to the study of geography?

7.      Why are understanding how to use atlases and how to use latitude and longitude measurements important skills?

 

Evaluation/Assessment:

Students will be evaluated based on their ability to use an atlas to find locations around the world given longitude, latitude and minute measurements.

 

Vocabulary:

longitude, latitude, atlas, equator, prime meridian, International Dateline,  Tropic of Cancer, Tropic of Capricorn, North Pole, South Pole, degrees, minutes, seconds

 

Extension Activities:

1. Create your own latitude and longitude "clues" and challenge classmates to find them in their atlases.

 

2. Find cities, countries, landforms, and bodies of water in New York Times articles and maps, and locate these places using an atlas. Write down the latitude and longitude of these places. Then, choose one article and "rewrite" it using latitude and longitude measurements in place of the names of the locations listed. Challenge classmates to read the article, identify these places using your clues and an atlas, and summarize the article.

 

3. Imagine that you are going on a trip around the world, visiting ten to twenty cities. Write a travel itinerary for your trip using longitude and latitude. Then, switch your itinerary with that of another student, and use atlases to track your classmate’s trip.

 

4. Create a visual display or write a report about the development of latitude and longitude, as well as other markings found on maps, such as the equator, prime meridian, International Date Line, the Tropic of Cancer, the Tropic of Capricorn, and time zones.

 

5. Learn about some of the places located in the clues on the "Longitude and Latitude" crossword puzzle. For what are these locations famous?

 

6. Play some of the other crossword puzzles available in The New York Times or on The New York Times Learning Network (http://www.nytimes.com/learning/students/xwords/index.html)

or create your own crossword puzzle.

 

Interdisciplinary Connections:

American History/ Global History- Find the locations of famous monuments using an atlas and translating them into latitude and longitude coordinates. Then, on a large map, indicate where these monuments are located, using your own latitude and longitude measurements as your guide. You can also provide these measurements for classmates to use to locate these famous monuments on a map.

 

Foreign Language- Create a crossword puzzle in which the clues and answers are written in the language of study.

 

Technology- Investigate the tools and technologies used to pinpoint exact locations, such as satellites, radar, and global positioning systems, and explore how these technologies are used.

 

 

Other Information on the Web

Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names (http://www.gii.getty.edu/tgn_browser/)

is a geographic resource site produced by the Getty Information Institute. You enter the name of the location and the site will tell you its latitude and longitude.

 

Earth Viewer (http://www.fourmilab.ch/earthview/vlatlon.html)

allows you to view either a map of the Earth showing the day and night regions att this moment, or to view the Earth from the Sun; the Moon; the night side of the Earth; above any location on the planet specified by latitude, longitude and altitude; from a satellite in Earth orbit; or above various cities around the globe. The site is produced by Fourmilab of Switzerland.

 

3D Atlas Online (http://www.3datlas.com/)

is a geographic resource site with information on many countries, world news, free downloads, and geographic glossary.

 

Map Machine Atlas (http://www.nationalgeographic.com/resources/ngo/maps/)

includes political and physical maps, flags, facts, and country profiles; from National Geographic.

 

Atlapedia Online (http://www.atlapedia.com/)

contains full color physical and political maps as well as key facts and statistics on countries of the world.

 

Academic Content Standards:

This lesson plan may be used to address the academic standards listed below. These standards are drawn from Content Knowledge: A Compendium of Standards and Benchmarks for K-12 Education: 2nd Edition and have been provided courtesy of the Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning in Aurora, Colorado.

 

In addition, this lesson plan may be used to address the academic standards of a specific state. Links are provided where available from each McREL standard to the Achieve website containing state standards for over 40 states. The state standards are from Achieve's National Standards Clearinghouse and have been provided courtesy of Achieve, Inc. in Cambridge Massachusetts and Washington, DC.

 

Grades 6-8

Geography Standard 1- Understands the characteristics and uses of maps, globes, and other geographic tools and technologies.

Benchmarks:

·         Knows the purposes and distinguishing characteristics of different map projections, including distortion on flat-map projections;

·         Understands concepts such as axis, major parallels, seasons, rotation, revolution, and principal lines of latitude and longitude; Knows the advantages and disadvantages of maps, globes, and other geographic tools to illustrate a data set

 

Language Arts Standard 5- Demonstrates competence in the general skills and strategies of the reading process.

Benchmarks:

·         Establishes and adjusts purposes for reading;

·         Uses a variety of strategies to define and extend understanding of word meaning;

·         Uses specific strategies to clear up confusing parts of a text

 

Copyright 2001 The New York Times Company

 

Latitude and Longitude Tutorial

 

If your browser supports Java, you can play the May crossword puzzle, "Latitude and Longitude," on-line, or you can print out an image of the puzzle to play with pencil and paper.

 

Look on almost any map or globe and you will see lines going vertically and horizontally, forming what looks like a grid over the Earth's surface. These lines, called latitude and longitude, assign numbers to every location on the map. The unit of measurement for latitude and longitude is called a degree, which is indicated by a small circle to the upper left after a latitude or longitude is given (ex. 60°).

 

Latitude, the lines that run left to right on a map or globe, is always listed first when assigning a measurement. The equator is found at 0° latitude, and there are 90 degrees to each of the poles. The N or S following a latitude measurement indicate whether the degrees are measured north or south of the equator.

 

Longitude, the lines that run up and down on a map or globe, is always listed second when assigning a measurement. The prime meridian is found at 0° longitude, and there are 180° going both east and west from the prime meridian to the International Date Line. The E or the W following a longitude measurement indicate whether the degrees are measured east or west of the prime meridian.

 

Minutes and seconds sometimes follow latitude and longitude measurements to more accurately pinpoint a location. Each degree can be divided into sixty minutes, usually indicated by a single quotation mark (ex. 5') or by numbers following a period in the latitude or longitude measurement. For example, 90°15'N could also be written as 90.15N. Each minute can be divided into sixty seconds, indicated by a regular (double) quotation mark (ex. 5'').

 

You can use a map or globe to find general latitude and longitude measurements, or an atlas, which is a collection of maps, for more specific measurements including minutes and seconds. Practice using an atlas to find the following locations (be sure to include degree signs and direction):

 

 

1.      What can be found at 90° N? ____________________

 

2.      What can be found at 90° S? ____________________

 

3.      What city in England is located at longitude 0°?____________________

 

4.      What city in the United States is located at 40° N, 75° W? ____________________

 

5.      What other cities are located at latitude 40° N? ____________________

 

6.      What other cities are located at longitude 75° W? ____________________

 

7.      Find your city on a map or atlas. At what latitude and longitude are you right now? ____________________

8.      Find your country on a map or atlas. What is the approximate range of latitudes and longitudes that your country covers? ____________________

 

There are many online atlases and geography resources available if you don't have an atlas. Visit some of these sites, and see what they have to offer:

 

Copyright 1999 The New York Times Company

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Worksheet alternate for "Across" Clues:

 1, 9, 13, 14, 16, 18, 23, 32, 33, 44, 47, 49, 51, 59, 62, 67

 

1.      Nevada city near Lake Tahoe at 39.31° N, 119.48° W__________________________

2.      Persian Gulf country at 22.00° N, 58.00° E __________________________________

3.      Russian river at 47.00° N, 51.48° E ________________________________________

4.      City near Sacramento at 38.07° N, 121.16° W _______________________________

5.      It flows through Cairo, Egypt at 30.10° N, 31.06° E ___________________________

6.      Pole at 90°S, 0 °_______________________________________________________

7.      One of the Great Lakes at 48°N, 88° W_____________________________________

8.      City in southwest England at 51.01° N, 3.06° W _____________________________

9.      Its capital is Teheran at 35.40° N, 51.26° E __________________________________

10.  Neighbor of New Hampshire at 45.15° N, 69.15° W___________________________

11.  Christopher Columbus's birthplace at 44.25° N, 8.57° E _______________________

12.  Home of Padres and Chargers at 32.42° N, 117.09° W _________________________

13.  Country at 7° N, 81° E __________________________________________________

14.  Capital city at 41.36° N, 93.36° W ________________________________________

15.  Island at 13.55° S, 171.45° W ____________________________________________

16.  Sicilian resort city at 37.34°N, 14.16° E ____________________________________

 

Alternate Worksheet for "Down" Clues:

2, 5, 10, 15, 17, 24, 28, 29, 43, 51, 53, 55, 56, 61

 

Find the latitude and longitude for each of these places:

1.      Erie, Pennsylvania:____________________________

2.      Flint, Michigan:_______________________________

3.      Mauritania (Africa): between ____________ to ___________latitude and     ______________ to ___________ longitude

4.      Aspen, Colorado: ______________________________

5.      Rennes, France: _______________________________

6.      Uganda (Africa): between _____________ to ____________ latitude and

_______________ to _______________ longitude

7.      Red Sea: between ______________ to _____________ latitude and

________________ to _____________ longitude

8.      Washington (state): between _________________ to ______________ latitude and

_________________ to _______________ longitude

9.      Quintana Roo, Mexico: between _____________to ______________ latitude and

________________ to _________________ longitude

10.  Samoa Islands: between __________________ to ______________ latitude and

____________________ to __________________ longitude.

11.  The source of the Yser River in Europe is at _______________ and the mouth is at

__________________________.

12.  Bern, Switzerland: _________________________________

13.  Asia: between _________________ and _________________latitude and

__________________ and __________________ longitude.

14. Ile de France: __________________________________