WHAT IS LONGITUDE AND LATITUDE Notes in SINK

WHAT IS LONGITUDE AND LATITUDE Notes in SINK

HOW IT STARTED! • A key geographical question throughout the human experience has been, "Where am I? "

HISTORY • In classical Greece and China, attempts were made to create logical grid systems of the world to answer this question. • The ancient Greek geographer Ptolemy created a grid system and listed the coordinates for places throughout the known world in his book Geography. • But it wasn't until the middle ages that the latitude and longitude system was developed and implemented. • This system is written in degrees, using the symbol °.

DEFINITION (SINK) • a system developed by Geographers to pinpointing exact or absolute locations everywhere on Earth. • Geographers use a grid made up of two sets of lines that cross each other, like the lines on graph paper. • You can identify any place on Earth by saying which two grid lines cross there.

GLOBES (SINK) • The globe is the more accurate way to show Earth, since the globe is spherical like Earth. • The North Pole is the farthest Northern point on a globe • The South Pole is the most Southern point on a globe. • All directions on Earth are figured from these two points.

LINES ON A GLOBE • There are important lines on a globe. • First there are parallels or latitude lines. • Second, there are meridians or longitude lines.

LINES OF LATITUDE • Lines of latitude are imaginary circles that run east and west around the globe – known as parallels. • These parallels divide the globe into degrees. • Lines of latitude measure distance north and south of the equator.

LINES OF LATITUDE-EQUATOR • The Equator is 0 degrees latitude. • The letter “N” or “S” that follows the degree symbol tells you if the location is north or south of the equator. • Ex: North Pole- 90 degrees N latitude • South Pole- 90 degrees S latitude

LINES OF LONGITUDE • Lines of Longitude, are imaginary lines also known as meridians, run from the North Pole to the South Pole. • Longitude measures distance east and west of the Prime Meridian.

PRIME MERIDIAN • Prime Meridian is 0 degrees longitude. • An imaginary line that runs North and South and divides the earth into Western and Eastern Hemispheres. • The letter “E” or “W” tells you if the location is east or west of the Prime Meridian.

EASTERN AND WESTERN HEMISPHERES • Everything east of the Prime Meridian for 180 degrees is in the Eastern Hemisphere. • Everything west of the Prime Meridian for 180 degrees is in the Western Hemisphere.

LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE

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