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Grade Level(s): 6
Introduction: Using the equator and prime meridian, map makers have constructed a grid made up of lines of latitude and longitude to find locations anywhere on Earth. The latitude is the distance in degrees north or south of the equator. All lines of latitude are parallel to the equator. The distance in degrees east or west of the prime meridian is called longitude. There are 360 lines of longitude that run from north to south, meeting at the poles. Each line represents one degree of longitude. Lines of latitude and longitude were used to draw the boundaries between many states. Map makers also use map projections to show the Earth’s curved surface on a flat map. A map projection is a framework of lines that helps to show landmasses on a flat surface.
Learner Objectives:
- The students will explain how maps and globes represent Earth’s surface and state what a map projection is.
- The students will be able to identify the equator and prime meridian and state how latitude and longitude are used to locate points on Earth’s surface.
Florida Sunshine State Standards: Science: SC.H.3.3.6, Math: MA.E.1.3.1
Competency Based Curriculum: Math: M/J-I-V-2-A/M/J-3-VI-2-A
Science: M/J-3-I-1-B
Materials:
United States map with latitude, longitude, and state borders
Tracing paper
Paper clips
Colored pencils
Activity Procedures:
- Lay a sheet of tracing paper on top of a map of the United States.
- Trace over the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of the United States with a blue pencil.
- Using the blue pencil, trace all Great Lakes shorelines that reach nearby states.
- Trace all state borders that go exactly north-south with a red pencil.
- Use a green pencil to trace all state borders or sections of state borders that go exactly east-west.
- Use a blue pencil to trace the borders that follow rivers.
- Use a brown pencil to trace any borders that are not straight lines or rivers.
Student Assessment:
- Allow students to answer critical thinking questions assigned by teacher.
- Compare and contrast the various means of calculating latitude and longitude during ancient times.
- The sun and the stars can be used to calculate the latitude north or south of the equator but not the easterly or westerly position that is, the longitude. Explain why.
- Allow students to use an atlas to describe a city in terms of its latitude and longitude.
Activity Extensions:
- Encourage students to research the relationship between mapmaking and technological innovations (Science/Technology Integration).
- Encourage students from diverse parts of the world to use a world map to determine the latitude and longitude of the capitals of the countries where they or their parents originated (Social Studies/Language Arts).
- Allow students to research the history of Florida to find out when and how its borders were established (i.e., Latitude and Longitude, Landforms, etc.).
Home Learning Activity:
Assign a city to each student and challenge them to use a map to describe everything they can about that city, including latitude and longitude and the hemispheres it is in.
Ask students to identify a point in a selected ocean and pretend that they are a ship lost at sea. Have the students determine the degrees of longitude and latitude so that they may call for assistance.
Vocabulary: equator, prime meridian, longitude, latitude
References/Related Links:
www.northernlight.com
www1.minn.net/~keithp/loni.htm
http://www.mmbc.bc.ca/source/schoolnet/exploration/navigation.html
http://www-istp.gsfc.nasa.gov.stargaze/Snavigate.htm
http://seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/OCEAN_PLANET.html
Glencoe (2000). Science Voyages, Westerville, OH: Glencoe/McGraw Hill.
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