Activity

Reading the World: Latitude and Longitude Lesson latitude and longitude, maps, coordinates on a map, prime meridian, reading maps, equator, globes

Curated and Reviewed by Lesson Planet
This Reading the World: Latitude and Longitude Lesson latitude and longitude, maps, coordinates on a map, prime meridian, reading maps, equator, globes activity also includes:

Find five activities all about longitude and latitude! Use oranges to show the equator and prime meridian, plot birthdays on a map using coordinates, and plan a dream vacation. 

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CCSS: Designed
Instructional Ideas
  • For the orange-peeling activity, demonstrate the accuracy of a globe over a flat map by cutting the orange peel off with a knife in slices so it all comes off in one piece
  • For Activity 3, you could use an interactive whiteboard or projection onto a whiteboard
Classroom Considerations
  • If you don't have the text mentioned in the first mini-lesson, consider listening to the audio version (linked in additional materials)
  • Show the cartoon in Activity 4 as an anticipatory set to discuss what latitude means
Pros
  • Group and pair activities as well as hands-on modeling makes this an engaging lesson
  • Multiple activities could be completed over the course of several days or all at once (if you're really ambitious!)
Cons
  • Game link in activity 5 for National Geographic for Kids doesn't work
  • This is really an outline and will require you to fill out a lot of the details
  • Map handouts are not included and will need to be supplemented