Where is it?
This is usually the first question that
crosses our minds when we hear the
name of an unfamiliar place. The question
is answered by finding its location - the
first of the Five Themes of Geography.
The location of a place can be given in
relative terms - where the place is located
in relation to other known places, or in
absolute terms.
Copy into your geography Journal:
Latitude Longitude NOTES
1) Absolute location gives the exact location
of a place, using a grid coordinate system
such as latitude and longitude.
2) Absolute location gives the global
address of a place.
3) Latitude lines are parallel lines that run
east west across a map (or around the
globe) that measure distance north or
south of the Equator.
4) The Equator is 0 (zero) degrees latitude
and is the starting point for measuring
distance in degrees north and south.
5) The maximum degree of latitude is 90
degrees. 90° north of the Equator is the
North Pole; 90° south of the Equator is the
South Pole.
With a partner do the following:
Look at a globe and notice the lines of latitude.
1) First, find the Equator, 0°.
2) What continents does the Equator pass
through?
3) How many degrees are there between the
lines of latitude shown on the map? (The
number varies with different maps, although
latitude lines are usually drawn 10 or 20
degrees apart.)
To avoid confusion, latitude is designated as
North or South of the Equator.
**For example, Charlotte, NC lies at 35°N (north
of the Equator) and Buenos Aires, Argentina lies
at 35°S (south of the Equator).
Look for these lines of latitude on the map or globe:
•Tropic of Cancer (23.5 degrees North)
•Tropic of Capricorn (23.5 degrees South)
•Arctic Circle (66.5 degrees North)
•Antarctic Circle (66.5 degrees South)
These lines of latitude mark the general climate zones of the Earth:
Tropics, Mid-Latitude temperate, and Polar.
•Which continents do these special lines of latitude
pass through?
Tropic of Cancer Tropic of
Capricorn
Arctic Circle
Antarctic Circle
Find your city or community.
– At what latitude is it located? You will need to
estimate the latitude if your city lies between
the latitude lines shown on your map. Be sure
you indicate whether it is north or south of the
Equator.
Review….
• Write what you have learned about lines of
latitude.
Try finding the latitude for these cities:
1. New York City
2. Houston, Texas
3. Minneapolis, Minnesota
4. San Francisco, California
5. Boston, Massachusetts
6. Seattle, Washington
7. Anchorage, Alaska
Longitude Lines
1) or meridians, run north-south from the North
Pole to the South Pole and measure the
distance east or west of the Prime Meridian.
2) The Prime Meridian is 0 degrees longitude and
is the starting point for measuring distance in
degrees east and west.
3) The maximum degree of longitude is 180
degrees, exactly halfway around the Earth
from the Prime Meridian.
With a partner do the following:
Look at a globe and notice the lines of longitude.
1) What continents does the Prime Meridian pass
through?
2) How many degrees are there between the
lines of longitude shown on the map? (The
number varies with different maps, although
longitude lines are usually drawn 15-20
degrees apart.)
To avoid confusion, longitude is designated as
East or West of the Prime Meridian.
**For example, 100°E (east of the Prime Meridian)
passes through Asia and 100°W (west of the
Prime Meridian) passes through North America.
Find your city or community.
– At what longitude is it located? You will need
to estimate the longitude if your city lies
between the longitude lines shown on your
map. Be sure you indicate whether it is east
or west of the Prime Meridian.
BELL
• Please number in your ‘bell’ section from
1-7- THIS IS NOT A QUIZ!
• Once you have done that, you may: work
on the puzzle, compete for 180 Days
Around the World, read your novel, or sit
quietly.
• YOU MAY NOT TALK!!
Try finding the longitude for these cities:
1. New Orleans, Louisiana
2. Miami, Florida
3. Denver, Colorado
4. San Francisco, California
5. Boston, Massachusetts
6. Seattle, Washington
7. Anchorage, Alaska
Putting It All Together
Together, latitude and longitude give us the
complete global address of a place. The
latitude tells us how far north or south of the
Equator the place is located, and the
longitude tells us how far east or west of the
prime meridian the place is located.
For example, the country of Sri Lanka is located 8°
north of the Equator and 81°east of the Prime
Meridian; therefore Sri Lanka’s absolute location
is 8° N / 81°E. As a rule latitude is given first.
Bell:
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Find the Latitude & Longitude for:
Sydney, Australia
Beijing, China
San Francisco, CA
Paris, France
Use latitude and longitude to identify these
places that lie closest to:
1. city 60° N / 30°E
2. city 42° N / 12°E
3. country 17° N / 88°W
4. city 30° N / 32°E
5. country 30° S / 25°E
Antipodes
The antipode is the point on the opposite side of
the earth from another point – the place you'd
end up if you were able to dig directly through
the earth. An antipode is found by converting the
latitude and longitude.
Take the latitude of the place you want to find the
antipode of and convert it to the opposite
hemisphere. For example, Memphis is located at
approximately 35° N latitude. The antipode of
Memphis is 35° S latitude.
Take the longitude of the place you want to
find the antipode of and subtract it from
180. Antipodes are always 180° of
longitude away. Memphis is located at
approximately 90°W longitude so we take
180 - 90 = 90. This new 90° we convert to
degrees East and we have our location of
Memphis' antipode: 35°S / 90°E, in the
Indian Ocean to the west of Australia.
Find the antipode for your town or community.
First, get your latitude and longitude. See the Geographic
Names Information System (GNIS) website,
http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=140:1:184298
77167961255332 to find your latitude and longitude.
Follow the steps above to find the antipode:
1) Is the antipode on land or in the ocean?
2) Why might the antipodes for Northern Hemisphere
locations be more likely to be in the ocean?
3) Sometimes antipodes are close to other cities. Locate
the city that is closest to the antipode for:
• Buenos Aires, Argentina
• Bogotá, Colombia