South Carolina ETV

South Carolina ETV
1101 George Rogers Boulevard
Columbia, SC 29201-4761
Phone: 803-737-3545

From Where to Where? (Grades 3-4)

Master Teacher

Vivian Johnson

Overview

This lesson presents a brief history of latitude and longitude. The student will use the latitude/longitude grid system to locate spots by tracking the coordinates of Hurricane Hugo. In addition, the student will make and learn how to use an astrolabe.

SC Math/Science Standards Met

Math Achievement Standards—Grade 3

Area IV--Geometry and Spatial Sense: B, E, F, G

Science Achievement Standards—Grade 4
Area III--Earth Science: A, F

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to:

appreciate the history of latitude/longitude and define the relevant vocabulary
use coordinates to locate points on a grid
connect geometry to measurements
apply geometry to real world context

Materials

protractor
poster board
string
washer for weight
straw
pumpkin

Vocabulary

spherical
axis
equator
hemisphere
Northern Hemisphere
Southern Hemisphere
parallel
Tropic of Cancer
Tropic of Capricorn
Arctic Circle
Antarctic Circle
Eastern Hemisphere
Western Hemisphere
Greenwich, England
Prime Meridian

ITV Series

Geography Skills, Program 3, "Latitude," and Program 4, "Longitude"

Previewing Activities

Display a pumpkin. Discuss the vertical lines. Draw horizontal lines around the pumpkin. Discuss how this grid system makes it easier to locate points on the pumpkin.

Focus for Viewing

To give students a specific responsibility while viewing, they will complete the "Latitude/Longitude" Activity Sheets during the programmed pauses. (When making copies of this activity for students, make two-sided copies so the student has the latitude questions on the front side and the longitude questions on the back of the same sheet.)

Explain that they will learn how the sun was used as a giant pointer to locate position on the earth. They will label their diagrams of the earth with the appropriate terms as they watch the two ITV programs.

Viewing Activities

Start the first ITV program on latitude at the beginning of the introduction segment where the narrator says, "Shed a tear for all those early tourists." Continue playing while the narrator explains:

how hard it was to find where you were on Earth
how land features were not very helpful
how we needed a grid system
how a grid system was developed over 2500 years ago by the Greeks
how the Greeks theorized that the Earth was a sphere
how the Greeks then used the sun as a giant pointer to plot imaginary parallel lines on the surface of the Earth

Pause when the narrator says, "The ends of poles were labeled North or South." Allow students to label the worksheet North and South at the poles.

Continue playing the video and pause when the narrator says, "The halves that are equal, "equi-equator." Allow students to label the top half of the earth the Northern Hemisphere and the bottom half, the Southern Hemisphere, and the line splitting the Earth into equal parts, the equator.

Continue playing the video and pause when the narrator says, "This circle is called the Summer Tropic or Tropic of Cancer." Allow students to label the Tropic of Cancer. Continue playing the video and pause when the narrator says, "The edge of this lit-up region is called the Arctic Circle." Allow students to label the Arctic Circle.

Continue playing the video and pause when the narrator says, "…Winter Tropic or Tropic of Capricorn on the longest day of the year." Allow students to label the Tropic of Capricorn. Restart the video and pause when the narrator says, "Antarctic Circle." Allow students to label the Antarctic Circle.

Resume playing the video until the narrator says, "These lines are called parallels or lines of latitude." Allow students to label the lines of latitude. Then fast forward to the climate zones information. Begin again when the narrator says, "Nevertheless, the ancient Greeks

began a tradition of using the imaginary equator as a starting point and measuring up or down from it to describe the location of each parallel or line of latitude." Continue playing the video until the end for an explanation of the astrolabe.

Insert the second ITV lesson on longitude.

Fast forward through the video until you hear the narrator say, "Everyone agreed the grid of lines of latitude needed improvement." Pause the video when the narrator says, "These con-verging lines are called lines of longitude." Allow students to label the lines of longitude on their diagram on Side 2 of their worksheet. Restart the video and pause when the narrator says, "The Prime Meridian is the name given to this line." Allow students to label the Prime Meridian.

Resume the video and pause when the narrator says, "They divide the world into 180 degrees to the East and 180 degrees to the West. This creates an Eastern and Western Hemisphere." Allow students to label the Eastern and Western Hemispheres. Continue the video and stop when the narrator says, "The Prime Meridian goes through Greenwich, England, outside London." Allow students to label Greenwich. Continue the video until the end as the narrator explains how to find and write latitude and longitude.

Post-Viewing Activities

1. Students will follow the path of 1989's Hurricane Hugo, which ravished South Carolina, by plotting its latitude/longitude coordinates on a hurricane tracking map. Print the hurricane tracking map from the Internet.

See the Hurricane Hugo tracking chart on the Internet . The Hugo latitude/longitude coordinates are approximately as follows:

September 15, 1989: Latitude = 14 degrees N; Longitude = 53 degrees W

September 18, 1989: Latitude = 18 degrees N; Longitude = 65 degrees W

September 20, 1989: Latitude = 25 degrees N; Longitude = 71 degrees W

September 21, 1989: Latitude = 28 degrees N; Longitude = 76 degrees W

September 22, 1989: Latitude = 35 degrees N; Longitude = 82 degrees W

2. For additional information about hurricanes, have the class visit the FEMA Hurricane Site for students.

Action Plan

1. Students will make a simple astrolabe to measure latitude. At night, using the North Star (Polaris) found in the handle of the Little Dipper, students can measure their latitude. Distribute Activity Sheet 2.

Extensions

1. Technology: Students can learn more about the history of latitude and longitude at Bonus.com. Enter under find—latitude/longitude.

The National Hurricane Center site provides excellent information on Hugo and other major storms while this website demonstrates how to find Greenwich Mean Time.

2. Language Arts: Read aloud Longitude, The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time by Dava Sobel. Chapter 1 gives a history of latitude/longitude.