longitude

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**Latitude:** Latitude lines are imaginary lines on the earth's surface. They run **east and west** around the globe and tell you your distance north or south of the Equator. Think of latitude like the rungs of a ladder (ladder sounds a lot like latitude). Latitude lines run east and west, but they tell how far up (north) you can go or how far down (south) you can go.  **Longitude:** Longitude lines are imaginary lines on the earth's surface that run **from pole to pole** around the globe and tell you your distance east or west from the Prime Meridian. When you think of longitude, think of long, tall telephone poles (because longitude lines run from pole to pole).Longitude lines run **north and south,** but they tell how far east you can go or how far west you can go.
 * [[image:ladder.JPG]] || [[image:http://www.lakelandsd.com/tutorial/latitude2.jpg width="406" height="281" align="right"]] ||
 * [[image:http://www.lakelandsd.com/tutorial/poles.jpg width="375" height="153"]] || [[image:http://www.lakelandsd.com/tutorial/longitude2.jpg width="263" height="404" align="top"]]  ||

**Why are latitude and longitude measured in degrees? **
In the field of mathematics, circles are measured in degrees. There are 360 degrees in a circle. Since the earth is basically circular, it was decided to measure latitude and longitude in degrees also. The first latitude line was the Equator (equally distant between the north and south poles). It is the largest of all latitude lines. All other latitude lines are measured in degrees north or south of the Equator. There are a maximum of 90 degrees of latitude to the north or the south of the Equator.

 The first longitude line was the **Prime Meridian**. Any meridian could have been chosen as the Prime Meridian because they are all exactly the same. The Prime Meridian was selected by international agreement at the International Meridian Conference called by President Chester Arthur in October of 1884. Representatives from 25 nations met in Washington, D.C. All other longitude lines are measured in degrees east or west of the Prime Meridian. There are a maximum of **180 degrees** on longitude to the east or the west of the Prime Meridian.

 **. **  <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">It is about 112 kilometres between two latitude lines. To be more precise in location, degrees can be divided into smaller parts. One degree can be divided into **60 minutes (')** and one minute can be divided into **60 seconds (")**.

**<span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0)"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">How do I use latitude and longitude? **
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">If someone asked you the location of a shop, you may say "It is on the corner of Swanston and Bourke Street street." Latitude and longitude are like imaginary streets on the earth. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">It is customary (usual) to give the latitude of a place first, and the longitude second. For example, you would say "35 degrees north, 77 degrees west". So you do not need to use the words latitude and longitude. Make sure that you give a direction (north or south, east or west) with the number. If you simply say "66 degrees latitude", there are two of them - one in the north and one in the south. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">To find a latitude line such as 60 degrees north latitude, you must do three things:

<span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0)">1. Go to your starting line (the Equator). 2. Determine which direction you must go (north or south). (north is up, south is down) 3. Determine the distance in degrees you must go (60). <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">This will give the location of one of your streets. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">If you find the intersection of these two imaginary streets, you have found the exact (absolute) location of a place on the earth's surface (shown by the red "<span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0)">X " on the map below. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Important: The Equator is neither North nor South of the starting line, so it is simply 0º latitude (no direction needed). The Prime Meridian would be 0º longitude (no direction needed). Notice this on the two diagrams:

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Now do an online exercise which practices finding locations on the earth, using longitude and latitude: <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">[|click on this link to go to the exercise]

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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> //Source: This information on this page has been taken from http://www.lakelandsd.com/tutorial/lesson1.html. It was created by B. Bowerman and has been modified by I. van Weringh.//    ======