Topic: Geographical coordinates

Author: Magdalena Jankun

Target group

6th‑grade students of elementary school.

Core curriculum

VI. Geographical coordinates: latitude and longitude; mathematical and geographical location of points and areas; longitudinal and latitudinal extent.

The student:

1) reads the latitude and longitude of selected points on the globe and on the map;

2) by using geographical coordinates, shows the location of points and areas on the maps at various scales;

3) marks the coordinates of any points in the area (using a map or GPS).

The general aim of education

The student determines the longitude and latitude of the points on the map, and, by using geographical coordinates, shows the given geographical object.

Criteria of success

• determine the geographical location of various points and objects on the globe;

• show geographic objects using given geographic coordinates;

• use the GPS system to locate a place.

Key competences

• communication in the mother tongue;

• communication in foreign languages;

• mathematical competences;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn;

• social and civic competences.

Methods / forms of work

• using ICT tools;

• activity with educational material and multimedia on the epodreczniki platform;

• discussion, talk;

• individual activity, activity in pairs, and of the entire class.

Teaching aids

• e‑textbook for teaching geography;

• interactive whiteboard;

• physical map of the world;

• physical map of Europe;

• physical map of Poland;

• globes;

• geographical atlases;

• multimedia projector;

• tablets/computers.

Lesson plan overview (Process)

Introduction

1. The teacher informs the students about the goals of the lesson.

2. The class starts with a reminder of the concepts of latitude and longitude. The teacher uses the materials under “Geographical coordinates” in the abstract. Then uses the illustration “Geographic coordinate system...” to introduce students to further activities on the lesson.

Realization

1. The teacher distributes geographical atlases and globes to each pair of students. By working together, they have the following tasks to perform:

   1. use the geographical grid to determine the geographical location of London, Rome and Washington;

   2. use the cartographic grid of your choice to determine the geographical coordinates of Barcelona, Seoul and Vilnius;

   3. determine the geographical location of the following islands: Crete, Madagascar and Java, drawing a cartographic grid to include one of the selected islands.

2. The students discuss the work done on the forum, compare the results.

3. Interactive exercise: write in the right place... Willing students approach the interactive board and solve the task.

4. Projection of a short film; the students perform an interactive exercise: pair cities... If necessary, students can use atlases.

5. Students, working in pairs and using the physical map of Poland, determine the geographical locations of the following cities: Grudziądz, Elbląg, Lublin, Zielona Góra, Kalisz. They read the geographical coordinates in relation to degrees and minutes. Selected students show the results of their work.

6. Students turn on GPS on their mobile phones and locate a given city, for example, Krynica Morska. They read the information provided by the GPS. Discussion on the class forum about the use of modern technology and its effectiveness.

Summary

1. As a summary of the lesson, the students perform the remaining interactive exercises in the abstract: name the grid visible in the picture, jigsaw, match the place to the given geographical coordinates, match in pairs, arrange in order.

2. The teacher summarizes the students' work and assesses, taking into account the contribution and abilities of the students.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Geographical coordinates

On the surface of the sphere, which is Earth, there are no reference points. Without introducing additional markings, you cannot determine the location of a place on its surface. To prevent this, you need to use a geographic coordinate system. You will learn how to do it during this lesson.

Earth rotates around its own axis from west to east. The axis of rotation intersects the surface of our planet in places called geographic poles – North and South. They became reference points that helped create a coordinate network enabling the location of any object on the globe. The conventional lines on the Earth's surface connecting the shortest route from the North to the South Pole are called meridians. All meridians have the same length. For practical reasons, it was necessary to determine a prime meridian. As a result, each of the meridians could be described with the degrees of a dihedral angle contained between its plane and the plane of the prime meridian. In 1884, the prime meridian was defined as the one that runs through the Royal Observatory, Greenwich (now within London).

Parallels were designated by drawing conventional lines perpendicular to the meridians on the surface of the Earth. They are shaped like circles and are parallel to each other. The closer to the poles, the smaller the circles. The longest parallel is at an equal distance from both poles and was given the name equator. It became a reference point for the remaining parallels. Each of the parallels is described by degrees of the angle contained between the equator plane and Earth's radius passing through a given parallel. The system of meridians and parallels along with the poles forms the so‑called geographical coordinates on the globe.

Using the knowledge gained during classes, perform the following exercises.

• The grid of meridians and parallels enables the precise location of each point on the Earth's surface.

• We define the longitude in relation to the Greenwich meridian, which was chosen as the prime meridian (0°) from an infinite number of identical meridians.

• Latitude is defined in relation to the equator, which is the longest parallel.

• The longitudinal extent of a given area is determined by the extreme parallels between which this area is located. The latitudinal extent, on the other hand, determines the extreme meridians that limit a given area.