Name ___________________________
Date ___________________
Class ____________
MapMaster Skills Handbook
MapMaster Skills: Understanding Hemispheres
The word hemisphere means half of a sphere. The earth can be divided into
hemispheres in two different ways. When it is divided along the Equator, the two
hemispheres are the Northern Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere. When it
is divided along the Prime Meridian from the North Pole to the South Pole, the two
hemispheres are the Western Hemisphere and the Eastern Hemisphere.
Directions: Study the illustrations of the earth’s hemispheres below. Then, on a separate
piece of paper, answer the questions that follow.
NORTHERN HEMISPHERE
SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE
Eq
ua
ASIA
to
SOUTH
AMERICA
r
PACIFIC
OCEAN
ICA
AFR
EUROPE
ATLANTIC
OCEAN
ARCTIC OCEAN
North Pole
South Pole
ANTARCTICA
AL
R
at
ST
u
Eq
or
AU
ATLANTIC
OCEAN
AF
RIC
A
PACIFIC
OCEAN
NORTH
AMERICA
WESTERN HEMISPHERE
INDIAN
OCEAN
IA
EASTERN HEMISPHERE
North Pole
North Pole
EUROPE
ASIA
ATLANTIC
OCEAN
180
NORTH
AMERICA
AFRICA
Equator
Equator
SOUTH
AMERICA
PACIFIC
OCEAN
INDIAN
OCEAN
Prime
Meridian
ANTARCTICA
South Pole
AUSTRALIA
ANTARCTICA
South Pole
1. In which two hemispheres is the United States located?
2. What is the line that divides the Northern Hemisphere from the Southern
Hemisphere?
3. In which two hemispheres is Australia located?
4. Which ocean is not found in the Western Hemisphere?
5. Which hemisphere is the only one in which Antarctica is not found?
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