Globe and Map Skills
Content Check and Strategies
Dr. Tim Fry
A person can know the world and
never leave his/her home
Lao-Tzu
Objective:
The teacher candidate should
become more familiar with
some important globe/map
skills and some
strategies/activities to facilitate
learning in social studies
Specifically become more
familiar with:
size and shape of the Earth
hemispheres
rotation, axis, tilt, North Star
revolution, seasons, direct rays
relative location-pumpkin globes
exact location-longitude and latitude,
hurricane game
Size
Literature connection-The Librarian Who
Measured the Earth
by Kathryn Laskey
Sphere
Hemi”-Greek word for half
Hemisphere
Four Main Hemispheres
Northern Hemisphere-”Landed” divided
by the equator from the
Southern Hemisphere-”Water”
Western Hemisphere- “Americas”
divided by the Prime Meridian &
International Date Line from the
Eastern Hemisphere
Two movements of planet Earth
Rotation-Earth spinning on its axis
Revolution-Earth making a wide
circle around the Sun
Rotation
Earth spinning on imaginary line
called an axis
Takes 24 hours or one day
Causes day and night
Axis is tilted at 23½ degrees
Axis always points at North Star
Rotation related-Time Zones
Literature connections
Somewhere in the World Right
Now By Stacie Schuett
Nine O’clock Lullaby by Singer
(1993)
Revolution
Wide circle around sun
Takes 365 & 1/4 days
With 23½ tilt of axis and North Star
orientation it causes seasons
Direct rays & first day of each season
First Day of Season Facts
March 21-First day of Spring, Vernal Equinox,
direct rays at equator
June 21-First day of Summer, Summer
Solstice, direct rays at 23½° North-Tropic of
Cancer, Longest day
Sept. 21-First day of Fall, Autumnal Equinox,
direct rays at equator
Dec. 21-First day of Winter, Winter Solstice,
direct rays at 23½° South-Tropic of
Capricorn, Shortest day
Two other lines as a result of
Revolution
Arctic Circle-66 2/3° North
Antarctic Circle-66 2/3° South
Marks the area that experiences 24 hours
of total darkness and 24 hours of total light
Five Map Skills of NCSS
Orient a map and note directions
Use scale and compute distances
Interpret map symbols
Express relative location
Locate places on maps and globes
Relative location
Pumpkin Globes
Atlas --a.k.a Matthew
Exact Location
Grid System-Single Quadrant
Longitude and Latitude
Lines of Latitude
Latitude lines are parallel, “parallels”
Run E & W but measure N & S of the
equator which is O degrees latitude
¼ of 360 degrees = 90 degrees
maximum latitude- N & S Poles
1
360
2
Lines of Longitude
Longitude lines not parallel but
converge at the N & S Poles
“meridians”
Run N & S but measure E & W of the
Prime Meridian-0 degrees Longitude
Arbitrary point/Greenwich Observatory
½ of 360 is 180 degrees max-IDL
Riddle???
Standing on a point on Earth, I go one
mile south, then one mile west, and
then one mile north.
Where am I from the original point?
Color of the bears?
Each degree divided by 60 minutes
41°
40°50’
40°30’
40°10’
40°
Hurricane Game
Groups of at least 4
Instructor calls out coordinates
Students determine location and raise
hands to attempt correct place name
Baseball style-correct answer allows
person on first base and so forth until
one team scores a run
Mercator Projection Map
Kansas Curricular Standards Addressed
Geography Standard
Benchmark 1-Maps and Location
Fourth Grade Indicators 2 & 3
• 2. Uses grid systems to locate places…..
• 3. Identifies major landforms...relative locations
Benchmark 3-Physical Systems
Sixth Grade Indicator 2
• 2. Explains how Earth-Sun relationships
produce day and night, seasons
KSDE Teaching Standards Addressed
History Comprehensive 5-8
Standard #7 The teacher…has
knowledge and understanding of the
spatial organizations of the Earth’s
surface…..
Performance Indicator 1
• The teacher is able to use maps and graphic
representations….