“Where Do They Play?”
Using NFL Teams to Learn
Fundamental Geography Skills:
Absolute and Relative Location
NAME ____________________________
DATE _______________
“Where Do They Play?” Using NFL Teams to Learn Absolute and Relative Location
Directions: Use the maps in your classroom atlas, atlases from the library, Internet databases, or Google Earth to
determine the location of each NFL team’s home city. Write your answers on the chart.
Vocabulary Words:
Absolute location is “the exact position of a location on the Earth.” We use latitude and longitude coordinates to show
where places are located. For instance, the city of Atlanta is located at 33°N, 84°W.
Relative location is “the location of a place as described by places near it.” We use cardinal directions (North, South, East,
West) and intermediate directions (Northwest, Northeast, Southwest, Southeast) to describe where places are located. For
instance, Arizona is located west of the Mississippi River and southeast of Oregon.
Team Name
Arizona Cardinals
Their Home State
(or District)
This City’s
Absolute Location
This City’s
Relative Location
Can you name the city where
they play instead?
Atlanta Falcons
Baltimore Ravens
39°N, 76°W
Buffalo Bills
Carolina Panthers
Can you name the city AND state
where they play?
Chicago Bears
Cincinnati Bengals
Cleveland Browns
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Team Name
Dallas Cowboys
Their Home State
This City’s
This City’s
(or District)
Absolute Location
Relative Location
Texas
32°N, 96°W
Denver Broncos
Detroit Lions
Green Bay Packers
Houston Texans
Indianapolis Colts
Indiana
Jacksonville Jaguars
Kansas City Chiefs
Miami Dolphins
Minnesota Vikings
Can you name the city where
they play instead?
Minneapolis, MN
New England Patriots
New Orleans Saints
Can you name the city AND state
where they play?
North and East of lower
Mississippi River
New York Giants
New York Jets
Oakland Raiders
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NAME ____________________________
DATE _______________
“Where Do They Play?” Using NFL Teams to Learn Absolute and Relative Location
Directions: Use the maps in your classroom atlas, atlases from the library, Internet databases, or Google Earth to
determine the location of each NFL team’s home city. Write your answers on the chart.
Vocabulary Words:
Absolute location is “the exact position of a location on the Earth.” We use latitude and longitude coordinates to show
where places are located. For instance, the city of Atlanta is located at 33°N, 84°W.
Relative location is “the location of a place as described by places near it.” We use cardinal directions (North, South, East,
West) and intermediate directions (Northwest, Northeast, Southwest, Southeast) to describe where places are located. For
instance, Arizona is located west of the Mississippi River and southeast of Oregon.
Team Name
Their Home State
This City’s
This City’s
(or District)
Absolute Location
Relative Location
Can you name the city where
36°N, 86°W
Philadelphia Eagles
Pittsburgh Steelers
San Diego Chargers
San Francisco 49ers
Seattle Seahawks
St. Louis Rams
Tampa Bay
Buccaneers
Tennessee Titans
they play instead?
Washington Redskins
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Answer Key:
Team Name
Arizona Cardinals
Their Home State
This City’s
This City’s
(or District)
Absolute Location
Relative Location
33°N, 112°W
Answers will vary. My
where they play instead?
(Results may vary. It
advice is to use a
Phoenix (or Glendale), AZ
depends on what tools you
classroom map and ask
have at your disposal.
students to describe the
You may allow students
city’s relative location.
some leeway with these
Allow the students to
answers.)
determine if the relative
Can you name the city
location is correct.
Atlanta Falcons
Georgia
33°N, 84°W
Baltimore Ravens
Maryland
39°N, 76°W
Buffalo Bills
New York
42°N, 78°W
Can you name the city
35°N, 80°W
Carolina Panthers
and the state where they
play?
Charlotte, North Carolina
Chicago Bears
Illinois
41°N, 87°W
Cincinnati Bengals
Ohio
39°N, 84°W
Cleveland Browns
Ohio
41°N, 81°W
Dallas Cowboys
Texas
32°N, 96°W
Denver Broncos
Colorado
39°N, 104°W
Detroit Lions
Michigan
42°N, 83°W
Green Bay Packers
Wisconsin
44°N, 88°W
Texas
29°N, 95°W
Indianapolis Colts
Indiana
39°N, 86°W
Jacksonville Jaguars
Florida
30°N, 81°W
Houston Texans
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Team Name
Kansas City Chiefs
Miami Dolphins
Minnesota Vikings
Their Home State
This City’s
This City’s
Absolute Location
Relative Location
Missouri
39°N, 94°W
Florida
25°N, 80°W
Can you name the city
44°N, 93°W
where they play instead?
Minneapolis, MN
New England Patriots
Can you name the city
42°N, 71°W
AND state where they
play?
Foxboro (or Boston) ,
Massachusetts
New Orleans Saints
New York Giants
Louisiana
29°N, 90°W
New York (or New Jersey)
40°N, 74°W
They actually play in
neighboring East
Rutherford, NJ.
New York Jets
New York (or New Jersey)
40°N, 74°W
The Jets and Giants share a
football stadium.
Oakland Raiders
California
37°N, 122°W
Philadelphia Eagles
Pennsylvania
39°N, 75°W
Pittsburgh Steelers
Pennsylvania
40°N, 80°W
San Diego Chargers
California
32°N, 117°W
San Francisco 49ers
California
37°N, 122°W
Washington
47°N, 122°W
Missouri
47°N, 92°W
Florida
27°N, 82°W
Can you name the city
36°N, 86°W
Seattle Seahawks
St. Louis Rams
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tennessee Titans
where they play instead?
Nashville
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Washington Redskins
District of Columbia
38°N, 77°W
An Idea for an Extension Assignment:
In previous years, I have extended this assignment by asking students to label these cities
onto a blank map of the USA.
Doing so gives them an opportunity to see where professional football teams are located
within geographic regions of the United States. It also gives them a perspective of how
large these cities are and how closely some of them are located to one another.
You might do this as an enrichment assignment, or you might consider pulling down a
wall map or opening a file on your SMART Board and turning it into a full-class activity.
There are MANY possibilities for extending this assignment. I’d love to hear about how
you use it.
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