Location & Grids
If you describe your school as being "next to the public library and across the street from the park," which type of location are you using?
Relative Location
This imaginary line circles the Earth halfway between the North and South Poles, dividing it into Northern and Southern hemispheres.
Equator
It takes 24 hours for the Earth to complete one of these spinning motions on its axis, which gives us day and night.
Rotation
This term refers to any half of the Earth's sphere, such as the Eastern, Western, Northern, or Southern half.
Hemisphere
This map symbol shows the directions of North, South, East, and West, often styled with decorative points.
Compass Rose
Africa, Antarctica, and South America are examples of this type of massive, continuous land structure.
Continent
This is a system of intersecting horizontal and vertical lines drawn on a flat map to help you find specific places.
Map Grid
This starting line of longitude is labeled 0 degrees and runs directly through Greenwich, England.
Prime Meridian
This is the imaginary line running through the center of the Earth from pole to pole, around which our planet spins.
Axis
This line of latitude at 23.5° North marks the northernmost boundary where the sun can shine directly overhead at noon.
Tropic of Cancer
These are the four main directions on a map: North, South, East, and West.
Cardinal Directions
This is a very large, unbroken area of land, such as Eurasia, that is not necessarily bounded by political borders.
Landmass
If a search-and-rescue team uses exact latitude and longitude coordinates to pinpoint a lost hiker, they are using this type of location.
Absolute Location
These imaginary lines run east and west around the Earth and are always parallel to the Equator.
Parallels of Latitude
It takes roughly 365.25 days for the Earth to complete one of these full trips around the Sun.
Revolution
This line of latitude at 23.5° South marks the southernmost boundary where the sun can shine directly overhead at noon.
Tropic of Capricorn
These directions (Northeast, Southeast, Northwest, Southwest) lie exactly halfway between the four main directions.
Intermediate Directions
This warm climate region is located between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, receiving direct sunlight year-round.
Tropical Zone
This is the complete system of latitude and longitude lines that wrap all the way around the entire globe to map any spot on Earth.
Global Grid
These imaginary lines run from the North Pole to the South Pole, measuring distance east or west of the Prime Meridian.
Meridians of Longitude
These cold, high-latitude climate regions are located near the North and South Poles and receive very little direct sunlight.
Polar Zone
This line of latitude at approximately 66.5° North marks the boundary of the northern polar region.
Arctic Circle
This map feature, sometimes called a key, explains the meaning of symbols, colors, and lines used on the map.
Map Legend
This term describes the stretching, tearing, or changing of shapes, sizes, and distances when a round globe is drawn on a flat map surface.
Distortion
These sets of numbers and degrees (like 34° S, 151° E) act like a precise mailing address for points on a map.
Coordinates
This line of longitude, located mostly along the 180° meridian, marks the place where the calendar day officially transitions to the next day.
International Date Line
These middle-latitude climate regions lie between the tropical and polar zones and experience four distinct seasons.
Temperate Zone
This line of latitude at approximately 66.5° South marks the boundary of the southern polar region.
Antarctic Circle
If you want to calculate the actual distance in miles or kilometers between two cities on a paper map, you would use this tool.
Map Scale
This is a mathematical formula or method used by cartographers to transfer the curved surface of the Earth onto a flat map sheet.
Map Projection