Where is it?

1. Where is it? This is usually the first question that crosses our minds when we hear the name of an unfamiliar place. The question is answered by finding its location - the first of the Five Themes of Geography. The location of a place can be given in relative terms - where the place is located in relation to other known places, or in absolute terms.

2. Copy into your geography Journal: Latitude Longitude NOTES 1) Absolute location gives the exact location of a place, using a grid coordinate system such as latitude and longitude. 2) Absolute location gives the global address of a place.

3. 3) Latitude lines are parallel lines that run east west across a map (or around the globe) that measure distance north or south of the Equator.

4. 4) The Equator is 0 (zero) degrees latitude and is the starting point for measuring distance in degrees north and south. 5) The maximum degree of latitude is 90 degrees. 90° north of the Equator is the North Pole; 90° south of the Equator is the South Pole.

5. With a partner do the following: Look at a globe and notice the lines of latitude. • First, find the Equator, 0°. • What continents does the Equator pass through? • How many degrees are there between the lines of latitude shown on the map? (The number varies with different maps, although latitude lines are usually drawn 10 or 20 degrees apart.)

6. To avoid confusion, latitude is designated as North or South of the Equator. **For example, Charlotte, NC lies at 35°N (north of the Equator) and Buenos Aires, Argentina lies at 35°S (south of the Equator).

7. Look for these lines of latitude on the map or globe: • Tropic of Cancer (23.5 degrees North) • Tropic of Capricorn (23.5 degrees South) • Arctic Circle (66.5 degrees North) • Antarctic Circle (66.5 degrees South) • These lines of latitude mark the general climate zones of the Earth: Tropics, Mid-Latitude temperate, and Polar. • Which continents do these special lines of latitude pass through?

8. Find your city or community. • At what latitude is it located? You will need to estimate the latitude if your city lies between the latitude lines shown on your map. Be sure you indicate whether it is north or south of the Equator.

9. Review…. • Write what you have learned about lines of latitude.

10. Try finding the latitude for these cities: 1. New York City 2. Houston, Texas 3. Minneapolis, Minnesota 4. San Francisco, California 5. Boston, Massachusetts 6. Seattle, Washington 7. Anchorage, Alaska

11. Longitude Lines • or meridians, run north-south from the North Pole to the South Pole and measure the distance east or west of the Prime Meridian. • The Prime Meridian is 0 degrees longitude and is the starting point for measuring distance in degrees east and west. • The maximum degree of longitude is 180 degrees, exactly halfway around the Earth from the Prime Meridian.

12. With a partner do the following: Look at a globe and notice the lines of longitude. • What continents does the Prime Meridian pass through? • How many degrees are there between the lines of longitude shown on the map? (The number varies with different maps, although longitude lines are usually drawn 15-20 degrees apart.)

13. To avoid confusion, longitude is designated as East or West of the Prime Meridian. **For example, 100°E (east of the Prime Meridian) passes through Asia and 100°W (west of the Prime Meridian) passes through North America.

14. Find your city or community. • At what longitude is it located? You will need to estimate the longitude if your city lies between the longitude lines shown on your map. Be sure you indicate whether it is east or west of the Prime Meridian.

15. BELL • Please number in your ‘bell’ section from 1-7- THIS IS NOT A QUIZ! • Once you have done that, you may: work on the puzzle, compete for 180 Days Around the World, read your novel, or sit quietly. • YOU MAY NOT TALK!!

16. Try finding the longitude for these cities: 1. New Orleans, Louisiana 2. Miami, Florida 3. Denver, Colorado 4. San Francisco, California 5. Boston, Massachusetts 6. Seattle, Washington 7. Anchorage, Alaska

17. Putting It All Together Together, latitude and longitude give us the complete global address of a place. The latitude tells us how far north or south of the Equator the place is located, and the longitude tells us how far east or west of the prime meridian the place is located. For example, the country of Sri Lanka is located 8° north of the Equator and 81°east of the Prime Meridian; therefore Sri Lanka’s absolute location is 8° N / 81°E. As a rule latitude is given first.

18. Bell: • Find the Latitude & Longitude for: • Sydney, Australia • Beijing, China • San Francisco, CA • Paris, France

19. Use latitude and longitude to identify these places that lie closest to: 1. city 60° N / 30°E 2. city 42° N / 12°E 3. country 17° N / 88°W 4. city 30° N / 32°E 5. country 30° S / 25°E

20. Antipodes The antipode is the point on the opposite side of the earth from another point – the place you'd end up if you were able to dig directly through the earth. An antipode is found by converting the latitude and longitude. Take the latitude of the place you want to find the antipode of and convert it to the opposite hemisphere. For example, Memphis is located at approximately 35° N latitude. The antipode of Memphis is 35° S latitude.

21. Take the longitude of the place you want to find the antipode of and subtract it from 180. Antipodes are always 180° of longitude away. Memphis is located at approximately 90°W longitude so we take 180 - 90 = 90. This new 90° we convert to degrees East and we have our location of Memphis' antipode: 35°S / 90°E, in the Indian Ocean to the west of Australia.

22. Find the antipode for your town or community. First, get your latitude and longitude. See the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) website, http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=140:1:18429877167961255332 to find your latitude and longitude. Follow the steps above to find the antipode: • Is the antipode on land or in the ocean? • Why might the antipodes for Northern Hemisphere locations be more likely to be in the ocean? • Sometimes antipodes are close to other cities. Locate the city that is closest to the antipode for: • Buenos Aires, Argentina • Bogotá, Colombia