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4th grade · Social Studies · Unit 1 of 6

World Maps & Globes

Continents, oceans and coordinates

What your child practices

Continents and oceans, hemispheres, latitude and longitude, map scale, projections and kinds of maps.

Alaska content standards learning standard: SS.4.1.18.1 · maps and globes of the world's regions, latitude and longitude

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. There are 7 continents and 5 oceans. The Atlantic lies between the Americas and Europe and Africa.
  2. Latitude runs from 0° at the equator to 90° at the poles. Longitude is measured from the prime meridian.
  3. Every flat map (projection) stretches some places.

Example: What latitude is the equator? Latitude counts from the middle of the Earth. The equator is the starting line. Answer: 0°

World Maps & Globes in Alaska

In the Alaska content standards, this is unit 1 of 6 in 4th grade Social Studies, before History Detective.

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: Alaska Department of Education and Early Development

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

    What does the legend of a population density map tell you?

    • Who drew the map
    • Which shades mean more or fewer people per area
    • Which way is east
    • The year

  2. Question 2

    How many continents are there?

    • 7
    • 9
    • 5
    • 12

  3. Question 3

    A map's scale says 1 inch = 50 miles. Two cities are 3 inches apart. How far apart are they?

    • 300 miles
    • 50 miles
    • 150 miles
    • 53 miles

  4. Question 4

    Which ocean lies between the Americas and Europe and Africa?

    • The Atlantic Ocean
    • The Pacific Ocean
    • The Indian Ocean
    • The Southern Ocean

  5. Question 5

    The Andes Mountains run along which continent?

    • South America
    • Europe
    • Asia
    • Africa

  6. Question 6

    "Next to the river, north of the mountains" is an example of…

    • A projection
    • Latitude
    • Absolute location
    • Relative location

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