Latitude and Climate

By

Patricia Rodriguez

Reviewing Globes and Map Projections

Remember that a globe is the most accurate way to represent the earth.

The Equator, Prime Meridian, Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn.

Equator: Located at zero degrees latitude, (North or South) divides the Planet Earth into the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn: Located at North and/or South of the Equator, this area of Planet Earth between the two lines is known as the "Tropics”.Prime Meridian: Located at zero degrees longitude, (East or West), divides the Planet Earth into the Eastern and Western Hemispheres.

Latitude and Longitude

ParallelsCircle the earth and show latitude, which is distance measured in degrees north (N) or south (S) of Equator at 0° latitude.

MeridiansRun north to south from pole to pole. These lines signify longitude, which is distance measured in degrees east (E) or west (W) of the Prime Meridian at 0° longitude.

Reviewing Map Skills

Grid SystemLines of latitude and longitude cross each other in the form of a grid system.

Knowing a place’s latitude and longitude allows you to locate it exactly on a map or globe.

Absolute LocationYou can name an absolute location by naming the latitude and longitude lines that cross nearest to that location.

Activity 1. Define the following:

Hemisphere

Latitude

Longitude

Grid System

Absolute Location

Activity 2.

Identify the countries the Equator Passes Through

Go

Countries the Equator Passes Through.

Activity 3.

Use the following grid system “addresses” to find the three cities located at these coordinates:

55° N, 35° E

23° S, 43° E

1° N, 103° E

Summary.Places to Locate:

Tropic of Cancer

Tropic of Capricorn

Equator

Prime Meridian

Words to Know:Projection

Hemisphere

Latitude

Longitude

Grid System

Absolute location

ReferencesArmstrong, Boehm and Hunkins. Geography, The world and its

People. Glencoe, McGraw Hill (1998).

Bower, Bert and Lobdell Jim. History Alive! Teachers’ Curriculum Institute (1999).

Websites:http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/Dictionary/DictionaryHome.aspx

http://dgl.microsoft.com/

http://gallery.yahoo.com

http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/imageg.htm

That’s all!