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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