LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE

3
rd
Form Geography
Miss Vardy
GEGORAPHY: ITS A WORLD THING
USING LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE
LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE
A system of lines is used to find the location of any place on the surface of the Earth.

Lines of latitude run in an east-west direction. They run parallel to the equator

Lines of longitude run in a north-south direction. They run between the North and
South Poles.
1
Latitude and longitude
Latitude (shown as a horizontal line) is measured in degrees north or degrees south
of the equator, which is the line around the exact middle of the earth.

Lines of latitude are often referred to as parallels.

Arctic Circle (66 30'' N)
Antarctic Circle (66 30'' S)
Tropic of Cancer (23 30'' N)
Tropic of Capricorn (23 30'' S)
Latitude
There are 89 such equally spaced lines of latitude to the north of the equator and 89 to
the south of the equator.


Each east-west line is a circle. The further it is from the equator the shorter its length.
The 60
th
east-west line, for example, is only half as long as the equator!
Where the 90th east-west lines would be are two points the North and South
poles.
Latitude
North Pole
Equator
South Pole
Latitude
Lines of latitude Lines of latitude
Longitude (shown as a vertical line) is measured in degrees east
or west of something called the Prime Meridian. This is the line
going from the North Pole to the South Pole and running through
the middle of the Greenwich Observatory in London.

Lines of longitude are often referred to as meridians.
Prime
Meridian
Longitude
Britain was a world
leader in exploration
and map making.
Therefore, navigators
of other nations often
used British maps. As
a result, in 1884 the
meridian of
Greenwich was
adopted throughout
most of the world as
the Prime Meridian.
Why is the Prime Meridian in Greenwich?
There was still another reason for the selection of the Greenwich Meridian as 0
o

longitude.
Travellers must change time by
an entire day when they cross
the 180
th
meridian. If this
meridian crossed a large country,
timekeeping would be difficult.
But with the Greenwich
Meridian set at zero, the 180
th

meridian is near the middle of
the Pacific Ocean. It crosses only
a small land area in northeastern
Asia and divides some island
groups in the Pacific.

Why is the Prime Meridian in Greenwich?
To avoid differing dates in these Pacific islands,
the nations of the world established a special
line across which dates change. It swerves from
the 180
th
meridian whenever convenient.
This line is called the International Date Line.
International Date Line
Latitude and longitude
The latitude of a is 20S a is 20 south of the Equator.
The longitude of a is 20W a is 20 west of the Greenwich Meridian.
Therefore we write the latitude and longitude of a as 20S 20W.
always write these
first
These are lines of longitude
a
N
These are lines of
latitude
Latitude and longitude
Match the places with the correct latitude and longitude.
Latitude and longitude
a
c b
d
e
f
g
Write down the latitudes and longitudes of these places.
Latitude and longitude
MAPPING COORDINATES
Presentation is important
There is more room to write the names of the countries in the sea and draw a neat line
between your label and the country.
Use a pencil and a ruler to draw the lines for your map, write your labels in pen

TASK: On the blank world map, find and label the countries these coordinates
describe. Write the longitude and latitude coordinates beside each label
MAPPING COORDINATES
TIP!
Start by looking at the world map on Pg 118
and narrow your search from there
MAPPING COORDINATES
1. Cambodia Pg 79
2. Ethiopia Pg 91
3. Namibia
4. Vietnam
5. France, Nice


ACTIVITY:
My Latitude worksheet
WHY IS LATITUDE IMPORTANT?
1. Climate
Physical
Sun
Wind
Rain
Understanding Climate in 3D
CLICKVIEW
2. Ecosystems
Physical
3. Vulnerability to atmospheric
hazards

Atmospheric hazards are located in the Tropics between 30
o
N and 30
o
S because this is
where the 3 essential conditions for hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones can be found.
Physical
Atmospheric hazards
1. Food Security
Human
2. Level of development
Human
3. Trade & Empire
Human
Watch ClickView : Wind and empire