Download Location - St. Louis Post-Dispatch Newspapers In Education

National Geography Week Activities
02 OF 05
LOCATION
One of the Five Themes of Geography
The five themes of geography are:
• Location: Where is it located?
• Place: What is it like there?
• Human/Environment Interaction: What is the relationship between humans and their environment?
• Movement: How and why are places connected with one another?
• Regions: How and why is one area similar to another?
Each theme is connected to the others, as are all components of our world. To understand the world, we need to understand each theme. Location is an important theme because it helps us know and express where things are.
THERE ARE TWO WAYS TO DESCRIBE A LOCATION:
Absolute: The exact location given with respect to a known origin or place and uses a standard measurement system
such as longitude and latitude coordinates.
The Gateway Arch is located at 38.6245° N, 90.1847° W.
Relative: A location described solely in reference to another location.
The Gateway Arch is on the west bank of the Mississippi River in St. Louis, between the Poplar and Eads Bridges.
Lines of latitude and longitude are an imaginary grid that has been placed over the globe.
Lines of latitude run horizontally and provide locations north and south, depicting north as a positive number and south
as a negative number. The Equator is the latitude line that divides Earth into two hemispheres, the northern hemisphere
and the southern hemisphere. The Equator is the 0 point of latitude.
Lines of longitude run vertically and provide locations east and west. The lines of longitude are also called meridians.
The Prime Meridian, which passes through Greenwich, England, is the longitude line that divides Earth into two hemispheres, the eastern hemisphere and the western hemisphere. The Prime Meridian is the 0 point of longitude.
ACTIVITY 1 TRAIL GUIDE
MATERIALS NEEDED:
United States maps with latitude and longitude lines marked, reproduction of this list of coordinates
List of coordinates
39.0911° N, 94.4155° W
42.4940° N, 107.1330° W
43.6213° N, 116.1844° W
41.6007° N, 103.1170° W
41.3166° N, 110.3843° W
46.0400° N, 118.4614° W
41.7010° N, 103.3452° W
42.6543° N, 111.6046° W
45.3572° N, 122.6072° W
42.2133° N, 104.5172° W
43.0202° N, 112.6347° W
Have your students find and mark these coordinates on their maps. Ask them to identify the
route they marked. The route is the Oregon Trail and the locations are important landmarks
along the trail. The key to the locations is at the end of this set of lessons.
National Geography Week Activities
02 OF 05
CONTINUED
One of the Five Themes of Geography
ACTIVITY 2 NEWSPAPERS AND ABSOLUTE LOCATION
MATERIALS NEEDED:
A large map of the world with longitudinal and latitudinal lines and without place names, pins, string and atlas
Have your students use their ePost access to find an article that mentions a place. They may write information from the
article or print it. The student will then use the atlas to find the latitude and longitude. Once the absolute location is
found, have the student place a pin on the map at the proper location, attach the information or article to the side of the
map, then stretch the string between the two. Challenge your students to find articles from all over the world.
EXTENSION ACTIVITY 1
Have your students plot landmarks along other routes, such as the Silk Road,
an interstate or a route of their choosing.
EXTENSION ACTIVITY 2
In August 2015, the Prime Meridian was officially moved.
Have your students research and report on the reason and impacts.
LOCATION KEY
Independence, MO
39.0911° N, 94.4155° W
Independence Rock, WY
42.4940° N, 107.1330° W
Fort Boise, ID
43.6213° N, 116.1844° W
Courthouse and Jailhouse Rock, NE
41.6007° N, 103.1170° W
Fort Bridger, WY
41.3166° N, 110.3843° W
Whitman Mission, OR
46.0400° N, 118.4614° W
Chimney Rock, NE
41.7010° N, 103.3452° W
Soda Springs, ID
42.6543° N, 111.6046° W
Oregon City, OR
45.3572° N, 122.6072° W
Fort Laramie, WY
42.2133° N, 104.5172° W
Fort Hall, ID
43.0202° N, 112.6347° W