Latitude and longitude

Ages 9 to 12 Read alone or together · about 35 minutes

Read together

Lines on a globe help us name any place. Lines of latitude run east to west. The equator is 0 degrees. Lines of longitude run from the North Pole to the South Pole. The prime meridian, 0 degrees, passes through Greenwich in London.

Latitude is measured in degrees north or south of the equator, up to 90. Longitude is measured in degrees east or west of the prime meridian, up to 180.

Manila is at about 14.6 degrees north and 121 degrees east. Every place on Earth has its own pair of numbers.

Do it

1. On a globe or world map, find the equator and the prime meridian. Where do they cross?
2. Find the coordinates of your home, Manila, Mexico City and London using a printed atlas or a map app with a grown-up.
3. Play “battleship” with a grid of letters and numbers, then with latitude and longitude on a map.
4. Draw lines on an orange: the equator and a few meridians. Peel it flat. What do you notice about the shapes?

Talk about it

• Which is further north, Manila or Mexico City?
• Why do we need a prime meridian?

For the grown-up

The prime meridian was set at Greenwich by an international conference in 1884. Coordinates are also used by phones and GPS. Mexico City is at about 19.4 degrees north and 99 degrees west, and London is at about 51.5 degrees north and almost 0 degrees. Peeling an orange shows why flat maps must stretch or cut the Earth's surface.

Mark as done

Next lesson →

Where this comes from

• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service, “What are latitude and longitude?”
• International Meridian Conference, Washington (1884), Protocols of the Proceedings

Written with AI assistance and checked against the sources listed. Please read it before sharing it with a child.