STRAND: Measurement
TOPIC:
Mass & time
Latitude, longitude and
time zones
Points are located on the globe using parallels of latitude and meridians of longitude.
LITERACY TASK • Find the meanings of these key terms:
1. parallel:............................................................................................................................................................................
2. meridian: .........................................................................................................................................................................
3. latitude:............................................................................................................................................................................
4. longitude: .........................................................................................................................................................................
5. time zone:.........................................................................................................................................................................
6. equator:............................................................................................................................................................................
7. International Date Line:.................................................................................................................................................
8. rotate:...............................................................................................................................................................................
9. clockwise:.........................................................................................................................................................................
10. anti-clockwise:.................................................................................................................................................................
In this investigation we are going to look at how time differences are determined by the location of a point on the globe.
RESEARCH TASK ONE
1. How many time zones are there in Australia?
2. How does daylight saving affect these time zones?
 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd 2001
STRAND: Measurement
TOPIC:
Mass & time
INVESTIGATION: Latitude, longitude
and time zones
1. On the world map on page one identify the equator.
2. On the world map on page one identify the North Pole and South Pole.
A
3. On the world map on page one identify the prime (Greenwich) meridian.
4. On the world map on page one identify the International Date Line.
The equator is an imaginary line drawn around the globe at its greatest
diameter. It divides the world into the northern and southern hemispheres.
The latitude of the equator is 0°. Latitude is the number of degrees north or
south of the equator that a certain point lies. Point A shown above right is at
a latitude of 30°N.
30°
Equator
5. The North Pole is the northern most point on the globe. What would be
the latitude of the North Pole?
6. The South Pole is the southern most point on the globe. What would be the latitude of the South Pole?
The prime (or Greenwich) meridian is a line of reference that runs from the North
Pole down to the South Pole through Greenwich, a suburb of London. The prime
meridian divides the globe into the eastern and western hemispheres. The longitude
of the prime meridian is 0°. Meridians of longitude indicate the number of degrees
east or west of the prime meridian that a certain point lies. Point B on the figure at
right has a longitude of 40°E.
Prime
Meridian
40°
7. The line on the opposite side of the globe to the prime meridian is called the
International Date Line. What would be the longitude of the International
Date Line?
B
RESEARCH TASK TWO
The prime meridian and all other meridians of longitude are straight lines on the surface of the Earth running
from the North Pole to the South Pole. However, the International Date Line is bent. Why?
RESEARCH TASK THREE
Use an atlas to find the latitude and longitude of the following cities:
1. Melbourne
2. Sydney
3. Brisbane
4. Hobart
5. Adelaide
6. Perth
7. Auckland
8. London
9. Paris
10. Los Angeles
11. New York
12. Vancouver
13. Honolulu
14. Rio de Janeiro
15. Moscow
16. Johannesburg
17. Baghdad
18. Delhi
19. Beijing
20. Bangkok
There are 360° around the globe. From the prime meridian we can head 180° east or 180° west to reach the International Date
Line. The Earth completes a rotation on its axis once every 24 hours, thus creating day and night. This means that it needs to be
a different time of day on each part of the globe.
8. Given that 24 hours is equivalent to the Earth rotating 360° of longitude, how many degrees of longitude are equivalent to
1 hour?
9. How much time, in minutes, is equivalent to 1° of longitude?
Time is measured in each location with reference to the Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). This is the time of day along the prime
meridian. Because the Earth rotates in an anti-clockwise direction, anywhere east of the prime meridian is ahead of the GMT
and anywhere west of the prime meridian is behind the GMT. The main city in the world that uses GMT is London.
 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd 2001
INVESTIGATION: Latitude, longitude
and time zones
STRAND: Measurement
TOPIC:
Mass & time
10. The eastern coast of Australia is at a longitude of approximately 150°E. What is the time difference between the east coast
of Australia and GMT?
11. Find the time:
(a) In Melbourne when it is 11.00 am Monday in London.
(b) In London when it is 3.00 pm Tuesday in Melbourne.
12. Los Angeles is at a longitude of approximately 120°W. What is the time difference between Los Angeles and GMT?
13. What is the time difference between Melbourne and Los Angeles?
14. Jenny is in Melbourne and wants to telephone her sister Nancy who lives in Los Angeles. Jenny wants to call Nancy at
7.00 pm Friday, Los Angeles time. At what time in Melbourne should Jenny make the call?
15. Nancy wasn’t home when Jenny rang so she left a message. Nancy didn’t return Jenny’s call till 8.00 am Saturday, Los
Angeles time. At what time did Jenny receive the call in Melbourne?
16. Patrick is taking his family from Melbourne to Los Angeles. The flight leaves Melbourne at 2.00 pm on Tuesday and takes
14 hours. What is the day and time when the plane arrives at Los Angeles?
17. On the return flight, Patrick and his family leave at 11.00 pm Monday, Los Angeles time. What day and time do they arrive
back in Melbourne?
RESEARCH TASK FOUR
In part 9 of this investigation you should have calculated that 1° of longitude was equal to 4 minutes of time. The
world time zones are an approximation of this calculation. For example, Sydney and Melbourne don’t have the
same longitude, but for practical reasons they operate in the same time zone. When time zones are calculated
using the figure: 1° = 4 minutes, the result is called the standard time for that longitude.
1. Calculate the standard time in each city from Research Task Three, when it is 12 noon GMT.
2. Use the map below to find the difference between standard time and the actual time zone for that city.
12
10 am 11 am noon 1 pm
2 pm
3 pm
4 pm
5 pm
6 pm
7 pm
8 pm
9 pm 10 pm 11 pm
12 1 am 2 am 3 am 4 am 5 am 6 am 7 am 8 am 9 am
midnight
y
da
on day
n
Su
United
Kingdom
M
International Date Line
London
China
15:30 16:30
Tropic of Cancer
17:30
Ethiopia
Addis Ababa
Tropic of Capricorn
Prime Meridian
Equator
Jakarta
United States of America
Washington D.C.
Los Angeles
02:30
Indonesia
21:30
Australia
N
0
2500
Perth
5000 km
Sydney
New Zealand
03:30
Argentina
Buenos Aires
Zones with half an
hour’s time difference
10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00 23:00 24:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 04:00 05:00 06:00 07:00 08:00 09:00
 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd 2001