The Globe
The globe is a three-dimensional view of our planet.
Goal:
Goal:
Look at the globe. Find the country where you live. Locate the equator. The warmest parts of the Earth are located along the equator. Why do you think this may be? What is the shape of the Earth? Where is the sun in relation to the Earth, or parts of the Earth? Find the prime meridian. (It passes through Greenwich, England.) The prime meridian is 0 degrees longitude. The globe at the right shows Greenwich, England, marked with a red circle. When the sun shines exactly on a meridian, it is 12 noon everywhere along this meridian. Meridian means “midday line.” Just as we use the equator as our starting point to designate where the lines of latitude fall, we use what is called the prime meridian as a starting point from which the lines of longitude fall.
Long ago, early English mapmakers established the prime meridian as running straight through the small town of Greenwich, England, where the Royal Observatory happened to be located. Where that line appears on the opposite side of the globe is called the International Date Line. Together, this line and the prime meridian make a circle around the Earth.