Basic Geography Review(or World Geography)

TCI 1.1.1

Christopher Ford

Lesson ObjectivesIdentify the North and South PoleCreate a compass rose and correctly label the cardinal and intermediate pointsLabel the 4 oceans and 7 continentsUse latitude and longitude to identify locations on a mapIdentify the Equator, Prime Meridian, and International DatelineIdentify the 4 hemispheres of the EarthDefine and identify the “tropics”Interpret a map’s scale to find real distances

Materials Needed

Photocopy of world map on 11”x17” paper

Color pencils

World Atlases (or world map in history book)

Ruler (optional)

Compass Rose (1 of 2)North, South, East, and West are known as the cardinal points.

Unlike left and right, these directions ALWAYS stay the same, no matter where you are facing.

Cardinal directions are indicated on a map by a compass rose. Compass Roses range from simple to fancy.

FANCY

N

EW

SSIMPLE

N Question:

Why is it sufficient enough to label only “N” on a compass rose?

Compass Rose (2 of 2)The points in between the cardinal points are known as the intermediate points. These our northeast, northwest, southeast, and southwest. Notice that we always say “north” or “south” first. It is never “eastnorth” or “westsouth.”

Find an example of a compass rose in the atlas.

Draw a compass rose on your own map. Make it as simple or fancy as you’d like.

SIMPLE

NN

FANCY

EW

S

NE

SESW

NW

Compass Rose

N

North and South Pole

Find a world map in your atlasLocate the North and South Poles. (The most northern point on the Earth is the North Pole. The most southern point is the South Pole.)Point to the North Pole on your blank mapPoint to the South Pole on your blank mapNow label them on your maps

North and South PoleNorth Pole

South Pole

The Four OceansFind the four oceans in your atlas

Pacific Ocean Atlantic Ocean Indian Ocean Arctic Ocean

Label them on your map. (HINT: You will have to label the Pacific Ocean twice.)For homework, you will color them blue. Be careful not to color them so dark that you cannot read your writing.

The Four Oceans

Atlantic Ocean

Pacific OceanPacific

Ocean

IndianOcean

Arctic Ocean

The Seven ContinentsFind the seven continents in your atlas

Asia (largest) Africa North America South America

Label them on your map. For homework, you will color each continent a different color. Be careful not to color them so dark that you cannot read your writing.

Antarctica Europe Australia (smallest)

The Seven Continents

North America

South America

Africa

AsiaEurope

Australia

Antarctica

Latitude and Longitude (1 of 2)In order to find places on a map, we’ve created imaginary lines across the world.Look at your atlas. The lines that run north and south are called meridians of longitude. The lines that run east and west are called parallels of latitude. (Think of the relation to parallel lines in math/geometry.)Halfway between the North Pole and the South Pole is the equator. It is located at 0° latitude. This is the starting point for measuring latitude. The North Pole is the farthest point north of the equator. It is located at 90° north latitude. The South Pole is the farthest point south, located at 90° south latitude.

Latitude and Longitude (2 of 2)The prime meridian is the starting place for measuring longitude. It is located at 0° longitude.All lines east of the prime meridian are east longitude and all lines west are west longitude.There is one line that is the same distance east and west of the prime meridian. This is the international dateline. It is located at 180° longitude.Locate the equator, prime meridian, and international dateline in your atlas. Then label them on your own map. (HINT: You will have to label the international dateline twice.)

Latitude and Longitude longitude

latitude

equator

pri

me m

eri

dia

n

International dateline

International dateline

Labeling latitude and longitudeIf the prime meridian is 0° longitude and the international dateline is 180° longitude, divide 180 by the number of lines in between to figure out what to label the other longitude lines on your map. (NOTE: Not all longitude lines will be labeled the same on every map. It depends on the number of lines drawn between the prime meridian and the international dateline.)On our map, there are 9 lines drawn. When we divide 180 by 9, we get 20. Therefore, every line away from the prime meridian increases by 20°.

Labeling latitude and longitude

0°20°40°60°80°100°120°140°160°180° 20°

Notice the lines count out to both sides of the prime meridian. Unlike math, there are no negatives (-20°) in latitude or longitude. We simply say 20° west or 20° east.

Labeling latitude and longitude

90°

0°

Now label the latitude lines.

The equator is at 0° latitude while the North Pole is at 90°

There are 5 lines total. 90 divided by 5 is 18. Therefore every line increases by 18°.

18°

36°

54°

72°

18°

Locating points on a mapTo give a location on a map, you first name its latitude (indicating north or south) followed by its longitude (indicating east or west).For example, the Bay Area would be located at approximately 38°N, 122°W.When using coordinates to find a location, always start at 0°, 0°. Then move north or south, then east or west.Try to find the following locations:

40°N, 60°W (place an “x” on this location)60°N, 120°E (place an “o” on this location)20°S, 120°E (place a “+” on this location)

Be careful when finding longitude. Remember that these lines curve. They do not go straight up and down.

Locating points on a map

xo

+

Locating points on a map

Practice locating points on a map with your neighbor.

Take turns giving directions, then finding them.

The four hemispheresA hemisphere is half of the earth. If you divide the earth at the equator, the part of the Earth north of the equator would be the Northern Hemisphere and the part south would be the Southern Hemisphere.You can also divide the Earth in half with the prime meridian and international dateline. The part east of the prime meridian is the Eastern Hemisphere and the part west is the Western Hemisphere.

Tropics

The tropics are all the land and water located between the Tropic of Cancer at 23½°N and the Tropic of Capricorn at 23½°S.

This is the area of the Earth that gets the most exposure to the sun and therefore, experiences higher average temperatures than anywhere else.

Tropics

TROPICS

Tropic of Cancer

Tropic of Capricorn

Using a scale

In addition to a compass rose, every map also includes a scale. A map’s scale tells you how to translate distances on a map into distances in the real world.

Look for a scale in your atlas. Try to estimate the real distance between the western most point of the United States and the Eastern most point using a scale.

Homework

For homework tonight, color in the oceans with blue color pencil and color all 7 continents using a different color. Also, trace over your writing(labels) in blue or black ink. Use the world map in your history textbook as a guide.

Use the lesson objectives as a guide to study for your upcoming quiz.