Topic: International Date Line

Supplementary material for use in lessons in the group of natural sciences (nature, biology, chemistry, geography, physics), additional classes, science clubs. It can serve as a resource for expanding knowledge, preparing students for science competitions.

Target group

6th‑grade students of elementary school

Core curriculum

Grade VI Geography
V. Earth Movements: Earth in the Solar System; rotational and reciprocating motion; consequences of Earth movements. Pupil:
3) explains the relationship between the rotational movement and the voyage of wandering and towers of the Sun, the existence of day and night, the daily rhythm of human life and nature, the occurrence of time zones;

General aim of education

Students indicate the date change line and explain its existence.

Key competences

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn.

Criteria for success
The student will learn:

• indicate the solar time of a given place based on its longitude.

Methods/techniques

• expository

  • talk.

• activating

  • discussion.

• programmed

  • with computer;

  • with e‑textbook.

• practical

  • exercices concerned.

Forms of work

• individual activity;

• activity in pairs;

• activity in groups;

• collective activity.

Teaching aids

• e‑textbook;

• notebook and crayons/felt‑tip pens;

• interactive whiteboard, tablets/computers;

• globes.

Lesson plan overview

Before classes

• Students get acquainted with the content of the abstract. They prepare to work on the lesson in such a way to be able to summarize the material read in their own words and solve the tasks themselves.

Introduction

• The teacher refers to the information from the previous lesson, asking the chosen student to give the sunny time of the indicated points.

• The teacher gives the topic, the goals of the lesson in a language understandable for the student, and the criteria of success.

Realization

• The teacher asks students to look for the meridian of 0 ° and 180 ° on the globe / world map. The teacher displays a map of the world and asks the chosen student to mark on the interactive whiteboard the red meridian 0 ° and the green meridian 180 °.

• The teacher asks students to read the content of the abstract and then write in the notebook the explanation of the term universal time.

• The teacher asks students why they found out and marked the meridians of 0 ° and 180 ° at the beginning of the lesson?.

• Participants familiarize themselves with the content presented in the interactive illustration. Then the teacher discusses the issues with the students.

• Students, working individually or in pairs, carry out interactive exercises to check and consolidate knowledge learned during the lesson. Selected people discuss the correct solutions for interactive exercises. The teacher completes or corrects the statements of the proteges.

• The students consolidate the acquired information, discussing it with their nearest neighbors („tell your neighbor” method).

Summary

• The teacher asks students to carry out the recommended interactive exercise themselves.

Homework

• Listen to the abstract recording at home. Pay attention to pronunciation, accent and intonation. Learn to pronounce the words learned during the lesson.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

International Date Line

What time does the new year begin? The simple answer is at 12 at night. But if you think about it, you will find that it can be at 00:00? In addition, on the eastern borders of our country, the New Year begins earlier than on the west, and we just agree that we welcome it at the same time.

Changes in the way of life of people on Earth in the 19th century, travel facilitation, telephone communication, radio and other forms of communication have forced the order of time. It was difficult to function in a situation where there was a different time in almost every place in each country. The concept of universal time was introduced. An international agreement was then adopted, according to which the 0 meridian passing through Greenwich in the United Kingdom is a universal time and all other meridians have a time appropriate to the difference in longitude.

At the moment when the Sun is towering highest on the Greenwich meridian it is midday, on the opposite side of the globe it is midnight. Therefore, it was considered that the day ended there. The end of the day means that the next day begins and the date changes. The 180⁰ meridian line was therefore considered the International Date Line. However, this meridian crosses inhabited areas, so the course of the date change line was moved in places so that there was no situation that two places lying on the same land that have two different dates. Crossing the date change line from west to east, we repeat the same day. However, if we cross it from east to west, we have to add one day.

• The 180⁰ meridian line became the basis for determining the date change line.