Name: _____________________________________
Date: _________Class: ______
The World In Spatial Terms
Main Idea: _________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Relative Location:
Distance and location affect your life in many ways. If you live eight miles from school, you must wake up earlier each
morning than someone who lives eight blocks away. If you live 2,500 miles from the nearest volcano, you will be much
less concerned about its latest eruption than someone who lives in the valley below it.
From the specific spot where you stand on the earth, you are different directions and distances from many other spots
on the earth. Your location can, in fact, be compared to the location of any other spot on Earth. This is called relative
location.
Distance and relative location are important because we depend on people in other places for things we need. For
example, the United States imports and buys from other countries much of the oil that runs its cars and factories. Because
of the location of oil fields in Southwest Asia, a war there could cut off the supply of oil to the United States. This could
result in oil shortages and economic changes in the United States.
Try It!
Use Map 1-3 to answer the questions about
relative location. Use intermediate directions
where necessary.
1. Where is the United States located on this map?
___________________________________
2. What country is to the north of the U.S.?
____________________________________
3. What country is to the south of the U.S.?
____________________________________
4. What direction is South Africa from the U.S.?
____________________________________
5. What direction is Australia from the U.S.?
____________________________________
6. In what direction would you travel to go from
Japan to the U.S.? _________________
7. In what direction would you travel to go from India to the United Kingdom? __________________________________
Absolute Location:
Ships of long ago had to keep track of their speed on long voyages because they had no other way to tell how far
they had traveled. Ships often became lost. For example, a storm might blow them far away from where they wanted to
go. What people needed was a way to tell exactly where they were on the earth’s surface—their absolute location. They
also needed to be able to find their way to any other absolute location.
What they needed was a grid system that covered the entire earth. You know that a grid is made up of two sets of
lines that cross each other. A grid system that covered the whole earth would let anyone find any location on Earth. We
have such a grid today. We call it ______________________ and _________________________.
Name: _____________________________________
Date: _________Class: ______
Try It!
Practice using the grid in Figure 1-4.
1. Which is closer to the top of the grid, cell A-1 or cell E-4?
2. Now draw a flower in cell C-2.
3. Then draw a circle in cell A-4.
4. Finally, write your name in cell D-1.
You should be able to draw a straight line through all four cells on
the grid that have something in them.
Latitude are lines that are drawn (
) and divide the
earth into the _______________ and ________________ halves.
Longitude are lines that are drawn (
) and divide
the earth into the _______________ and ________________
halves.
The Main Line of Latitude is the __________________ outlined in
Red Below.
The Main Line of Longitude is the __________________
Outlined in Blue Below.
Practice
Look at the globe shown below and
write the latitude and longitude of
each dot. Be sure to tell whether the
latitude is north or south, and
whether the longitude is east or west.
Latitude
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Longitude
Name: _____________________________________
Date: _________Class: ______
World Latitude and Longitude Activity
Using the map on the reverse side, answer the following questions and mark the locations. If you need
to use a different color than the one indicated, be sure to make note next to that number.
1. Draw a red line along the Equator (0* latitude)
2. Draw a purple line along the Prime Meridian (0* longitude)
3. In which ocean is the location 10* S, 75* E located? Mark it on the map with a blue “X” and
write the name of the ocean.
4. In which ocean is the location 30*N, 60*W located? Mark it on the map with a blue “Y” and
write the name of the ocean.
5. Mark the following cities on the map in red and write the abbreviation.
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B: Beijing: 40* N, 116* E
C: Cairo: 30* N, 31* E
CT: Cape Town: 34* S, 18* E
H: Hong Kong: 22* N, 114* E
J: Jakarta: 6* S, 106* E
LA: Los Angeles: 34*N,
118*W
LI: Lima: 12* S, 77* W
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LO: London: 51* N, 0*
MC: Mexico City: 19*N,
99*W
MO: Moscow: 55* N, 37* E
MU: Mumbai: 19* N, 72* E
NA: Nairobi: 1* S, 37* E
NO: New Orleans: 30*N,
90*W
Want extra practice? Check these out!
http://www.purposegames.com/game/longitude-and-latitude-quiz
http://cuip.uchicago.edu/www4teach/97/jlyman/default/quiz/geogtest1.html
http://www.kidsgeo.com/geography-games/latitude-longitude-map-game.php
http://geographyworldonline.com/tutorial/practice.html
http://olc.spsd.sk.ca/DE/k9mod/Mapskill/mod3fl5.swf
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NY: New York: 40* N, 74* W
R: Rio de Janeiro: 23*S, 43*W
SE: Seattle: 47* N, 122* W
SY: Sydney: 34* S, 151* E
TK: Tokyo: 35* N, 139* E
T: Toronto: 43* N, 79* W