Discussion of latitude and longitude
Latitude
and Longitude Introduction
Part I
1. You should have a map of the United
States with latitude and longitude lines.
You should also
have a sheet of paper with a chart.
2. Circle these five cities on your
map:
Herndon, VA,
Pittsburgh, PA, Chicago, IL, Denver, CO, and San Francisco, CA .
3. Estimate the latitude and longitude
of each of these cities. Record your estimates on the chart.
Only record the
degrees (the first two digits of each), not the minutes and seconds.
Part II
4. Go to the United States Geological Survey web site.
5. One at a time, enter the name
of each of the cities at the web site.
Record the actual
latitude and longtitude on your chart.
6. How close were your estimates?
If you were close (within 5 degrees) give yourself a star.
If you were more
than 5 degrees off the actual latitude or longitude, can you determine
why you were not closer?