Exercise 1
The Geographic Grid and Earth-sun Relationships
Important lines of Lat/Long:
North Pole 90
N
N
Artic Circle 66.5
Prime Meridian
0  Longitude
Tropic of Cancer 23.5
Equator
N

Tropic of Capricorn 23.5
Antartic Circle 66.5
South Pole 90
S
S
S
Important Terms:
Latitude of vertical sun: (LVS) The latitude at which the sun is directly overhead (90
degree angle) at noon. This latitude ranges from 23.5N to 23.5S
Angle of Incidence: (AI) The angle at which the noon sun strikes the earth. This angle
changes depending upon latitude.
Important Dates:
Summer Solstice, June 21 - 23. On this day, the latitude of vertical sun is 23.5N. It
is the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere. The northern hemisphere
is tilted toward the sun.
Winter Solstice: December 21 - 23. On this day, the latitude of vertical sun is 23.5S.
It is the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere. The northern
hemisphere is tilted away from the sun.
Autumnal Equinox: September 21 - 23. On this day, the latitude of vertical sun is the
equator. Everywhere on the globe experiences 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours
of night. The earth's axis is tilted neither to or away from the sun.
4) On each diagrams below (please do not forget to note the dates):
a)
Draw the locations of the equator, Earth's axis, Tropic of Cancer, Tropic of
Capricorn, Arctic Circle, Antarctic Circle, and the circle of illumination (lightly
shade the portion of the earth that would be in shadow (night)).
b)
Write the correct term associated with each date.
c)
Label the latitude (in degrees) at which the rays of the sun strike the earth at 90
(LVS) for each date.
5) A practical Application:
Your rich uncle 4x removed just died and left you a huge emerald. However, there is a catch.
You must travel to the Inn of a Thousand Stars on December 22 to pick it up. The
only other
information that you have is a list of five cities and the knowledge that the Inn
lies in the city
experiencing the most direct sun on this date. To which city do you travel to pick up your inheritance?
______
______
______
Freetown, Sierra Leone (8N, 12W)
Baghdad, Iraq (34N, 42E)
Sao Paulo, Brazil (23S, 50W)
______
______
Quito, Ecuador (Equator, 79W)
Cape Town, South Africa (35S, 18E)
TIME ZONES
Lines of longitude are (approximately) used as a basis for world time.
The world rotates in a counterclockwise direction (west to east) about its axis once a day. Thus, the
earth rotates 360 degrees of longitude every 24 hours.
1)
a)
How many degrees does the earth rotate every hour? ___________
b)
A place 45 degrees east of Ellensburg will have sunset (sooner or later)? This
time will be the time for those people living on the east coast (Eastern time zone).
c)
If it is noon on the prime meridian, What time is it in Alexandria, Egypt? (32N,
30E)
Now, let’s examine time zones here in the continental US -- basically, there are four:
EST
CST
MST
PST
Eastern Standard Time
Central Standard Time
Mountain Standard Time
Pacific Standard Time
As mentioned, there are approximately 15 of Longitude between each, however, due to
political/demographic boundaries, 15 is only approximate.
2)
3)
Give the time zone code and the standard meridian (in degrees of longitude) for the
following places:
Time zone
Std. Meridian
Cleveland, OH
________
________
Las Vegas, NV
________
________
El Paso, TX
________
________
Chicago, IL
________
________
Denver, CO
________
________
Montreal, Quebec
________
________
Vancouver, BC
________
________
Atlanta, GA
________
________
Moscow, ID
________
________
Of the four time zones shown on the map, which one spans the greatest extent in longitude
within the lower 48 states? _______________ The estimated maximum width of this zone
in degrees of longitude is ____________.
4)
Clock differences between cities: When it is 11 AM in Los Angeles, the time in Atlanta is
_________. When it is midnight in Pittsburgh, the time in San Francisco is _________.
When it is 3 PM in New York City, it is _________ in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Standard Time throughout the world. Refer to the world map on the next page. Designate the zones in
terms of hours fast (minus sign) and hours slow (plus sign). Greenwich time (zero hours) is based on the
Greenwich (or Prime) Meridian (Zero Longitude).
5)
Give the time zone for each of the following nations:
Japan
_________
Iceland
_________
Iran
_________
Chile
_________
India
_________
New Zealand
_________
Greenland
_________
6)
From how many different starting points on the globe would it be possible to travel 100 miles
north, then 100 miles east (or west), then 100 miles south, and be exactly at the starting point? The
southern hemisphere is simple, but can you solve this problem fully for the northern hemisphere?
Briefly explain your answer.
Use the two circles below to draw your solution to the problem for each hemisphere. The dots in
the middle represent the south and north poles.
Southern Hemisphere
Explanation:
Northern Hemisphere
Google Earth portion
To do this lab, you will need to load Google Earth onto your computer. To do this, goto
http://www.google.com/earth/download/ge/agree.html , download, and install. No need to install
Chrome.
Objectives:
1)
2)
1)
Learn how to use latitude and longitude to define the position of anywhere on the
globe.
Learn how the solstices and equinoxes relate to latitude, time of year, and the
position of the sun relative to the earth.
Locate the following cities on the globe and give the latitude and longitude for each. Round to
the nearest degree
Example: Manila, Philippines
Perth, Australia
Nairobi, Kenya
Cairo, Egypt
Warsaw, Poland
Latitude
15N
________
________
________
________
Longitude
121E
________
________
________
________
Atlanta, GA
Bogota, Columbia
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Anchorage, Alaska
Vladivostok, SE Russia
Karachi, Pakistan
________
________
________
________
________
________
________
________
________
________
________
________
Latitude
Longitude
25N
60N
34S
17S
20N
47E
11E
18E
68W
158W
2) Write the name of the city at the following locations:
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________
this lab and all others will be due by 5:00 on the Thursday of the week the lab was assigned. Put it in the
mailboxy thing right outside my office (316 Dean). Late or emailed labs will not be accepted. 3 points.