The Longitude and Latitude Song
• http://www.geographyalltheway.com/ks3_g
eography/maps_atlases/longitude_latitude
.htm
Latitude/Longitude and
Absolute Location
Latitude (Parallels)
• imaginary lines that go
around the globe in an
east-west direction.
• are circles around the
globe (world) that never
cross each other.
Latitude (Parallels)
• describes your position,
north or south in relation
to the equator.
• the equator is at 0
degrees latitude (this
means it is in the middle
of the globe).
• the North Pole at 90
degrees north and the
South Pole at 90 degrees
south.
• each degree of latitude is
110 km apart.
Label the important lines on this
globe
Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of
Capricorn
Longitude (Meridians)
• are imaginary lines that go around the globe (world) that
all cross each other at the North and the South Poles.
Longitude (Meridians)
• is measured in degrees east or west of the prime
meridian.
• one half of the world is measured in degrees of east
longitude up to 180°, and the other half in degrees of
west longitude up to 180°.
Western and Eastern Hemispheres
If you are East of the Prime Meridian, you are in the Eastern
Hemisphere, if you are West of the Prime Meridian you are in the
Western Hemisphere.
Questions:
1. If you are 35˚East of the Prime Meridian, what
hemisphere are you in?
2. If you are 100˚West of the Prime Meridian,
what hemisphere are you in?
3. If you are 190˚ West of the Prime Meridian,
what hemisphere are you in?
4. Are lines of longitude parallel to each other?
5. Where do all the longitude lines cross?
and
Questions:
1. If you are 35˚East of the Prime Meridian, what
hemisphere are you in? Eastern Hemisphere
2. If you are 100˚West of the Prime Meridian,
what hemisphere are you in? Western
Hemisphere
3. If you are 190˚ West of the Prime Meridian,
what hemisphere are you in? East
4. Are lines of longitude parallel to each other? No
5. Where do all the longitude lines cross?
North Pole and South Pole
Absolute Location
• Now that you know what
lines of latitude (parallels)
and lines of longitude
(meridians) are, you can
find any place in the
world simply by reading
its absolute location.
• If you show all the
meridians and parallels
on a globe you will see
they make a GRID.
Absolute Location
• is a way to describe
where something is by
telling someone how
many degrees north or
south from the equator
it is and how many
degrees east or west
from the prime
meridian it is.
• latitude is always first,
and longitude is always
last.
Absolute Location
is measured in degrees (°) and looks like
this:
Beijing 39˚N, 116˚ E.
Beijing is 39˚ North and
116˚ East of the Prime Meridian.
Finding Absolute Location
Terry Fox: A National Hero
Terrance Stanley "Terry" Fox,
(July 28, 1958 – June 28, 1981) was
a Canadian humanitarian, athlete,
and cancer treatment activist. He
became famous for the Marathon of
Hope, a cross-Canada run to raise
money for cancer research, which
Fox ran with one prosthetic leg. He
is considered one of Canada's
greatest heroes and is celebrated
internationally every September as
people participate in the Terry Fox
Run, the world's largest one-day
fundraiser for cancer research. In
2004, Terry Fox was voted 2nd
place on the The Greatest Canadian.