Have fun when learning latitudes & longitudes.
When locating animals on the Globe Spotter world map, kids will be using latitudes and longitudes to pin-point the animals.
Here is a quick guide on how to use latitudes and longitudes with your world map.
This information is included in the free Globe Spotter booklet that comes with every world map.
VISUALISING LONGITUDES & LATITUDES.
Latitude and longitude make finding geographical locations on a map easy.
Latitude and longitude are lines that create a grid on the map.
Latitudes are the horizontal lines and longitudes are the vertical lines.
FIRST, A MEMORISING TRICK!
Latitude = lat., it sounds like "flat" and they happen to be the flat lines that run across your map.
Longitude = Long., they are very "long" because they go all the way from the North pole to the South pole!
UNDERSTANDING HOW THEY CONNECT.
If you have ever played chess, then you will have used a grid to locate a point before.
For example, D4, on this chess board, is where the horizontal 4 line meets the vertical D line.
Maps work the same way as a chessboard, but instead of letters and numbers, we use latitudes and longitudes which are expressed in numbers too, but in degrees°.
Latitudes go from -90° to 90°.
Longitudes go from 0° to 180°.
WORKING OUT LONG. & LAT. DEGREES
The flat latitude line that runs in the exact the middle of the globe on the map is known as the “Equator”. We’ve drawn it in blue here.
The Equator is 0 degrees° in latitude.
The perpendicular line that runs through the middle of your map from the north pole to the south pole is the “Greenwich meridian”.We have drawn it here as a red dotted line.
Greenwich is 0 degrees° in longitude.
Therefore, the junction, or meeting point between the Equator and Greenwich is 0°degrees in latitude and 0° in longitude.
LEARNING WHILE LOCATING ANIMALS.
To help children use longitudes and latitudes, we've made them a necessary part of the animals search on the Globe Spotter world map. We’ve also pre-labelled all of the latitudes and longitudes in degrees°.
All the longitudes are clearly labelled with their degree number at the top of the map. Latitudes are labeled on the sides of the world map.
That way, all there is to do for children to locate an animal on the Globe Spotter world map is to follow the latitude line sideways and the longitude line up (or down), to find any latitude and longitude location.
See that ant here, it is at a lat. of 10° South and long. of 30° East.
Now it is your turn to try!
IT'S EASY AND FUN.
The Globe Spotter animal quest begins in North America, but if children want to start somewhere else that’s fine too.
In the activity book that is free with the Globe Spotter world map, children will be guided through a list of animals to be found.
Animals are listed by continent and there is a picture of the animal children need to find, so if they can't read yet, it is fine.
Children begin by locating the correct continent by color code, then they can find the animal. Once they have found the animal, they simply follow the nearest latitude line sideways to take note of its value. Then go back to the beast in question and follow the longitude line up (or down) to find its value. They can write those values down in their book and tick the found box.
That will surely make a true explorer out of any child!