PARALLELS (LATITUDE) AND MERIDIANS (LONGITUDE) LETS THINK. Suppose that we are in an unfamiliar land, and we need to find animportant object that is hidden somewhere else on the Earth. Ifwe just start walking in a random direction, are we likely to findthe hidden object ? In order to both study and navigate the Earth, it is important tohave a system , The simplest method for describing locationseither on a planet, or on any flat object is to create a grid. A gridis a series of evenly spaced imaginary lines that intersect with oneanother at right angles. One set of lines are distributed across theglobe horizontally, and one set of lines are distributed vertically. But wait a moment. How do we know where the top and bottom of the Earth are?
Because the Earth is rotating around an imaginary axis, we can define a top andbottom. We call these the poles. Having a top and bottom of the Earth allows us tothen draw the imaginary lines that we need for our grid. The lines that extend frompole to pole are called meridians, while the lines that circle the globe horizontallyare referred to as parallels The Geographic Grid Parallels and Meridians Geographic grid: network of parallels and meridians used to fix location on the Earth Parallel: east-west circle on the Earths surface, lying on a plane parallel to the equator Meridian: north-south line on the Earths surface, connecting the poles PARALLEL (LATITUDE) Latitude Latitude is the angular distance of any object from the equatormeasured in degrees. The angular distance from the equator toitself is 0, thus the latitude at the equator is 0 . If we moveeither up or down from the equator, our distance increases, andso does our angle to it. Eventually we reach either the North, orSouth pole. Standing on the these poles, places us at exactly a 90 angle to the equator. PARALLELS If we were to cut the earth in half at the equator, and place a large piece of paper in-between the two halves, we would find that both halves were exactly the same size. As we move either up or down the Earth, cutting the planet into two pieces produces one large piece, and one small piece. As we approach the poles, the large piece gets very big, while the small piece becomes much smaller. Drawing these imaginary lines at different latitudes produces what we call parallels. All though technically it is possible to draw an infinite number of parallels at any number of latitudes, there are a few which are important for you to understand as you study our planet The first of these is called the equator
The first of these is called the equator. The Equator is located at 0 latitude. Going North from the Equator we find the Tropic of Cancer. This parallel is located at 23.5 North. Continuing further Northward we reach the Arctic Circle at 66.5 North Continuing all the way to the top of the Earth, at 90 latitude we encounter the North Pole.. If we journey southward from the Equator we will find the Tropic of Capricorn at 23.5 South. Continuing South we reach the Antarctic Circle at 66.5 South. Finally at 90 South we find the South Pole. MERIDIAN (LONGITUDE) Longitude The lines running vertically around the Earth are calledLongitude. These lines are called meridians, and measure how farEast or West an object is. As with latitude, longitude is measured as an angular distance.With Latitude, the angular distance is measured from theequator. This is a natural place to begin. However, with longitudethere is no natural beginning point. Over time, more and more travelers began to recognize themeridian passing through Greenwich, England as the PrimeMeridian. In 1884 a group of scientists, navigators, andbusinessmen made Greenwich, England the official worldwidePrime Meridian. The further away from the Prime Meridian that one travels the higher theirlongitude becomes, until they reach 180 longitude. If an individual is in the EasternHemisphere, their longitude is measured in degrees East. If they are in the WesternHemisphere their longitude is measured in degrees West. The Geographic Grid Parallels and Meridians Equator: Parallel of latitude lying midway between the Earths poles; it is designated latitude 0 Longest parallel of latitude Midway between poles Fundamental reference line for measuring position Longitude: arc of a parallel between the prime meridian and a given point on the globe Latitude: arc of a meridian between the equator and a given point on the globe The Geographic Grid LATITUDE AND LONGITUDELatitude is measured north and south of the equator, up to 90 Longitude is measured east and west of the Prime Meridianmeridian that passes through Greenwich, Englandup to 180 Map Projections Many types of maps, for many different purposes PARALLEL VS MERIDIAN synthesis
PARALLEL: an imaginary east-west line circling a globe MERIDIAN: an imaginary north-south line circling a globe LONGITUDE: is a geographical coordinate that specifies theeast-west position of a point on the Equator. LATITUDE: is a geographical coordinate that specifies theNorth-south position of a point on the Equator PLACES TO FIND WITH COORDINATES
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