Grade 7 — Social Studies: Finding and Describing World Locations

Overview

Students observe and compare different world map projections. They can describe world locations in terms of longitude and latitude and situate locations within time zones. They create a brochure explaining those concepts.

Teacher Tip:
Refer to the Curriculum for more information and support materials for this learning experience.

Activate

Using a wall map of the world, students use pushpins to identify places to which they have travelled, from which they have immigrated, or which they have “visited” at Folklorama or at other local ethnic celebrations. As they name the location, they describe it using names of continents, oceans and other major landforms.

Students participate in a class discussion to compare and contrast the relative merits of globes and maps. Following the discussion, collaborative groups of students use the Comparing Map Projections BLM to observe and compare two or three different world map projections, including electronic versions [Collaborate, Gather and Make Sense]. Each group discusses their observations of the differences between world maps, generating questions about the accuracy of various projections. [Plan and Question]

Teacher Tip:
Invite students to compare two or three different wall map projections (or digital maps on the Internet) to the globe. Use guiding questions such as the following to help students compare different representations of the globe and discuss their findings:

• What is the name of the projection used in the map?
• Are the shapes of oceans and continents different?
• Are the relative sizes of the oceans and continents changed?
• Do the distances between cities appear to be the same or different?
• Are the parallels and meridians the same as on the globe?

Suggestions for Assessment:
As students compare world maps in this activity, assess how well they recall the names of the continents and oceans, which they learned in grade 6.

Acquire

Using graph paper, students draw a grid representing the lines of latitude and longitude that are found on a world map. They identify the following important elements and indicate their measurement in degrees of latitude or longitude:

• Equator
• North Pole
• South Pole
• Prime Meridian
• Tropic of Cancer
• Tropic of Capricorn
• Arctic Circle
• Antarctic Circle
• Prime Meridian
• International Date Line

Students label the appropriate areas of their grid as the Northern Hemisphere, the Southern Hemisphere, the Eastern Hemisphere, and the Western Hemisphere. They identify the degrees of latitude and longitude of the places marked on the wall map. Students may refer to their atlases, and to other print or Internet sources to help them complete the grid. In collaborative groups, students take turns explaining the purpose of latitude, longitude, parallels, and meridians.

Teacher Tips:
Circulate among the groups to pose guiding questions or to correct misconceptions and errors.
Students use a mapmaker such as OMC to create a map of an area such as a continent, entering degrees of latitude and longitude. They select different projections to create a map of the same area and compare them.
Students use Worldtime to create a representation on the globe of the same area as they input degrees of latitude and longitude.

Using print and electronic resources, collaborative groups of students gather information about the purpose of world time zones and standards related to time zones. [Gather and Make Sense] A spokesperson for each group shares the results of their study with the class. The class discusses the meaning and applications of what they have learned.

Teacher Tips:
Carry out some examples of determining local time in a variety of places compared to the current time in Winnipeg or to International Time, and stating the time using the 24-hour clock.
Use the Understanding and Using Time Zones BLMs to help students with the concepts.

Suggestions for Assessment:
Note student participation in small groups.
Note gaps in understanding as students present.

Apply

Collaborative groups  of students create a brochure  entitled “World Maps for Dummies,” in which they present a set of illustrated instructions on how to use latitude and longitude to describe location, how to use time zones and International Time to calculate local time, as well as guidelines for comparing the accuracy of world map projections. [Collaborate, Produce to Show Understanding]

Suggestions for Assessment:
Students reflect on the use of ICT to find information, view maps, and create representations [Reflect]