OUR PLACE IN THE UNIVERSE

We have traveled to OUTER SPACE and

have met some friends…

ALIENS!!!!!They want to come visit. How do we

describe where we live?

Let’s use GEOGRAPHY!

The Universe is made up of billions of groups or clusters of stars called ____________. 1Galaxies

We live in the ____________ Galaxy. 2Milky Way

It contains over _____________ stars or suns. 3

100 billion

Inside the Milky Way Galaxy, we live within a group of planets and other bodies that ________ around stars or suns. 4orbit

This is called our _______________. 5Solar System

Each time the earth circles or orbits the sun, we call it a _______, which is 365 and ¼ days. 8

We live on one of ________ planets that circle or orbit our sun. 6

Year

Our planet is called ___________. 7

eight

Earth

Our earth also spins about itself around an imaginary ______ that runs from the top of the earth to the bottom. This takes 24 hours or one ______. 9day

axis

Our planet’s shape or form is round like a ball. It is called a __________. 11

The earth has one satellite or large body that moves around it which provides light for the earth at night. It is called the ___________. 10moon

sphere

OUR PLACE EARTH

The imaginary horizontal line that divides the earth in half is a “great circle” called the _________ . 1Equator

Mathematical geographers can divide the earth into two halves. Each section is called a _____________ . 2Hemisphere

The land above (or north) of the equator is called the _________________ . 3Northern Hemisphere

The land below (or south) of the equator is called the _________________ . 4Southern Hemisphere

We live in the _________________ . 5???? Hemisphere

He very bottom point of the earth is called the _________ . 7

He very top point of the earth is called the _________ . 6

South Pole

North Pole

Mathematical geographers also divide the earth in half with a vertical imaginary line, a great circle, which goes from pole to pole. This second “great circle” is called the __________________ . It helps determine what time it is where we live. 8

Prime Meridian

The portion on the left side (or west) of this line is called the _______________ . Western Hemisphere

The right side (or east) of the line is called the _________________ . Eastern Hemisphere

We live in the _______________ . ????? Hemisphere

When we look at the globe or map we see many line that run parallel to the equator. These are called ________________. It sounds like the word “ladder”.

Latitude Lines

Latitude lines help us measure the distance ________ or _________ of the equator. The lines are measured in equal distance in degrees (90 degrees which is 69 miles).

North South

Looking at the globe which latitude line is closest to where we live? _________________??? degrees latitude

Let’s look for some latitude lines that have names like the Tropic of Cancer, the Tropic of Capricorn, the North Polar Circle and the South Polar Circle. These help us determine climate of places on earth.

Let’s look at the long parallel lines circling the earth from north to south. These lines are called “meridian” or “longitude lines”. These are LONG to help us remember.

These lines are imaginary circles on the earth that pass through the poles. Geographical longitude is computed from zero degrees to 180 degrees east and west of the Prime Meridian located at Greenwich, England.

Looking at the globe which longitude line is closest to where we live? _________________?? degrees west longitude

Looking at the globe which longitude line runs through Asia?

Now we can tell the aliens we live at about

____ degrees _____ latitude

and

____ degrees _____ longitude.

Aliens Report

??

????

??

One of the longitude lines on the earth marks the beginning of each new day. It’s called the _______________________. Let’s find it on the globe.

International Date Line

What’s our time zone? __________________??? Time Zone

Let’s think of some other things we can tell our friends that will help them find us. As we look at the globe, we see blue which represents _________ and great divisions of land which represent __________.

OceansContinents

How many continents does our earth have? _______Seven

Let’s find the continents and name them:

North America South America

Which continent do we live on? _________________?????????

Europe

AsiaAfrica Australia Antarctica

Each continent is divided into ________________.

Which country do we live in? _________________?????????????

Countries

Each country is divided into ________________.

Which state do we live in? _____________??????

States

Each state is divided into ________________.

Which county do we live in? _________________???????????

Counties

Add Your STATE MAP Here

Each county is divided into ________________.

Which city do we live in? _____________________ ??????????

Cities

Add Your COUNTY MAP Here

Each city is divided into ________________.

Which street do we live on? ____________________???????????????

Streets

Add Your CITY MAP Here

Our house has a number of its own. Do you know our house number _________?

Do you think our alien friends from outer space will be able to find us? ____________________YES! YES! YES!

????

Add Your STREET MAP Here

CONGRATULATIONS!

You have used mathematical geography to locate your exact position on the earth. You are a

mathematical geographers!

YES! YES! YES!