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7th grade · Social Studies · Unit 13 of 14

World Maps & Globes

Latitude, longitude and map tools

What your child practices

Using maps, globes and other geographic tools: latitude and longitude, hemispheres, continents and oceans, map projections and scale.

Alabama Course of Study content standard: 7.1 · describing the world in spatial terms with maps, globes and geographic tools

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Latitude measures north or south of the equator; longitude measures east or west of the prime meridian.
  2. N latitude means the Northern Hemisphere; W longitude means the Western Hemisphere.
  3. GPS and satellite images are geospatial tools that show current conditions.

Example: A city is at 34° S, 151° E. Which hemispheres is it in? S means south of the equator. E means east of the prime meridian. Answer: Southern and Eastern

World Maps & Globes in Alabama

In the Alabama Course of Study, this is unit 13 of 14 in 7th grade Social Studies, after Assyria, Phoenicia & Persia and before World Regions.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Time zones change roughly every 15° of longitude because…

    • Earth turns 360° in 24 hours
    • There are 15 continents
    • The equator is 15° long
    • Maps are 15 inches wide

  2. Question 2

    The prime meridian divides Earth into…

    • Summer and winter
    • Eastern and Western Hemispheres
    • Oceans and continents
    • Northern and Southern Hemispheres

  3. Question 3

    The equator divides Earth into…

    • Land and water
    • Eastern and Western Hemispheres
    • Northern and Southern Hemispheres
    • Day and night

  4. Question 4

    A map projection always distorts some…

    • nothing at all
    • colors only
    • shape, size, distance or direction
    • names only

  5. Question 5

    GPS and satellite images are examples of…

    • primary sources from Rome
    • weather myths
    • geospatial technologies
    • ancient artifacts

  6. Question 6

    On a Mercator projection, why does Greenland look as big as Africa?

    • Greenland really is bigger
    • Areas near the poles are stretched
    • The map is upside down
    • Africa is shrinking

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