Name: Grade: (25 possible)

Building Map and Data Skills

Worksheet 1: Absolute and Relative Location

(25 Points)

Refer to your textbook, class notes and the "Geology at CUNY" website(link on the Links page of the class website) for basic information about latitude and longitude. Use an atlas to help answer location questions.

  1. Which major cities are located at the following locations: (2 points)
  2. 34o03'N, 118 o16'W b. 28 o41'N, 77 o10'E
  1. 33 o30'S, 70 o56'W d. 33 o57'S, 18 o15'E
  1. Use the Astrodienst Atlas ( -- on Links page of the class website) to find the latitude and longitude of the following cities (include degrees and minutes,N or S, E or W as shown). (7 points)
  1. Colorado Springs: Washington DC: 38o54’N, 77o02’W

Which city is farther north? Which is farther from the Prime Meridian?

  1. London, England: Sydney, Australia:

Which city is farther from the International Date Line? the equator?

  1. Colorado Springs: Paris, France:

Which city is farther north?

How many degrees and minutes of latitude separate them?

How many degrees and minutes of longitude separate them?

  1. Indicate what country contains each of the following latitude and longitude locations: (4 points)
  2. What country is located at 30oN latitude and 30oE longitude?
  3. A location 130o west of 30oN, 30oE lies in what country?
  4. A location 50o east of 30oN, 30oElies in what country?
  5. A location 20o north and 40o east of 30oN, 30oE lies in what country?
  1. Antipode. Definition: two points on earth that are directly opposite each other on the globe.(2 points)

The latitude of the antipode is the same number of degrees away from the equator but in the opposite hemisphere (N or S) from the original location. The longitude is 180o away; to find the longitude of the antipode subtract the longitude of the original location from 180o and change W to E or E to W.

Example: for location 10o30’S, 60o10’Ethe antipode is 10o30’N, 119o50’W (180o - 60o10’)

In 2nd grade I dug a hole in my yard; destination: China. Assuming I was digging in Colorado Springs, where would I actually have ended up had I not grown weary of the endeavor long before I got through the earth; i.e. what is Colorado Springs’ antipode? Lat/Long:

Place location: (Obviously, I wasn’t a geographer yet!)

  1. In some places, lines of latitude (parallels) and lines of longitude (meridians) are used as political boundaries, including many state boundaries in the United States. (2 points)
  2. The border between the United States and Canada runs along which parallel in Idaho, Montana, North Dakota and much of Washington and Minnesota?
  3. Name the state whose northern border runs along the 41oN parallel and whose eastern border runs along the 102oW meridian:
  1. Latitude v. Longitude: (8 points)

Do you think a change in latitude or a change in longitude results in a greater landscape difference?

Check out the Degree Confluence Project webpage and find out.

The goal of the Degree Confluence Project is to visit each of the latitude and longitude integer degree intersections in the world and take a picture. These pictures are posted on their website.

Go to the Project website: on Links page of class website)

In the left column under project links, click on Worldwide maps. Then click on Composite World Map which brings up a mosaic of all the main confluence images.

  1. Select a latitude and look at 3 of the confluence images at that same latitude but different longitudes.

Visit confluences at that latitude from both the eastern and western hemispheres. List them below.

Latitude / Longitude / Country
  1. Select a longitude and look at 3 of the confluence images at that same longitude but different latitudes.

Visit confluences at that longitude from both the northern and southern hemispheres. List them below.

Latitude / Longitude / Country
  1. Discuss your impressions of variations:based on what you know about earth-sun relations and the earth’s movement around the sun and drawing on your "travels" in the Confluence Project, do landscapes vary more with a change in latitude or a change in longitude? Why?

Map and Data Worksheet 1 – Absolute and Relative Location: p. 1 of 2