Crack the Code
Using Latitude and Longitude
Briefing
• Crafty robbers broke into the Royal
Geographical Society in London and stole
armfuls of priceless maps. Finding them would
be hopeless, except that they dropped a scrap
of paper with some odd scribbles on it.
The Note
The thieves who broke into the Royal
Geographical Society left behind this code,
along with the data that follows.
First letters from each place-name read.
Spell out the town and come with speed.
The Data
Latitude
Longitude
Letters
40° 58’ N
5° 39’ W
9
21° 18’ N
157° 51’ W
8
36° 52’ S
174° 46’ E
8
1° 17’ S
36° 49’ E
7
6° 48’ N
58° 10’ W
10
21° 2’ N
105° 51’ E
5
16° 51’ N
99° 55’ W
8
41° 1’ N
28° 58’ E
8
Directions
The numbers, you realize, are the coordinates for
cities all over the planet.
(1) Find those places on a map (maps.google.com)
Hold Option-zero for the degree symbol.
(2) As you find each place, write its name next to
the coordinates (on pg. 7 of this presentation).
(3) Color the first letter of each name red.
(4) Read the red letters from top to bottom, and
they should spell the name of a city. Now you
know where to nab those cartographic crooks.
Your Mission
• Crack the code to find out where the thieves
are taking the loot.
Your Name:
______________
Latitude
Longitude
Letters
40° 58’ N
5° 39’ W
9
21° 18’ N
157° 51’ W
8
36° 52’ S
174° 46’ E
8
1° 17’ S
36° 49’ E
7
6° 48’ N
58° 10’ W
10
21° 2’ N
105° 51’ E
5
16° 51’ N
99° 55’ W
8
41° 1’ N
28° 58’ E
8
The mystery location is:
City
_________
Your Next Assignment
Now you and your partner will create your own
mysterious code (like the last assignment, only
in reverse). Here’s how:
• Select a mystery city (any city, anywhere).
• For each letter in the name of the mystery
city, find another place that starts with that
letter.
• List the latitude and longitude coordinates for
each city above.
Here’s an Example
1. My mystery city will be: Minsk
2. Now find a city for each letter:
–
–
–
–
–
M (Minneapolis)
I
(Ithaca)
N
(New Orleans)
S
(Seattle)
K
(Knoxville)
3. Identify the coordinates of each city. (These
are the clues you will give to your classmates.)