GEOG1110 Lab Activity 1 - Geography fundamentals
Instructions:
1. Submit your completed work to the appropriate drop box on or before the due date. Late assignments will not be accepted without a doctor’s excuse.
2. All answers must be in your own words. Do not copy from the textbook (this is plagiarism unless you use quotation marks and reference your source). Do not copy from other students. Please see the syllabus for details on the plagiarism policy for this course.
3. To turn in a sketch, you have several options -- sketch by hand and then scan it or take a digital photo, OR sketch using a drawing program (like Paint – found under accessories in Windows computers).
4. The purpose of this assignment is to learn how to work with some of the basic tools used by geographers. After completing this assignment you will be able to
• map locations using latitude and longitude,
• use a map to determine latitude and longitude for a location,
• use standard meridians to estimate time differences between locations without a map.

The following has been modified from http://geographyworldonline.com/tutorial/
A. What is latitude and longitude?
Imagine a single dot on a ball. How would you describe its location? It would be quite difficult. The same is true of locations on the Earth’s surface. Geographers have solved this problem by creating latitude lines and longitude lines. Latitude lines are imaginary lines on the earth’s surface. They run east and west around the globe and tell you your distance north or south of the Equator. Think of latitude like the rungs of a ladder (ladder sounds a lot like latitude). Latitude lines run side to side from east to west, and they tell how far up (north) you can go or how far down (south) you can go.
Longitude lines are imaginary lines on the earth’s surface that run from pole to pole around the globe and tell you your distance east or west from the Prime Meridian. When you think of longitude, think of long, tall telephone poles (because longitude lines run from pole to pole). Longitude lines run north and south, but they tell how far east you can go or how far west you can go.

B. Why are latitude and longitude measured in degrees?
In the field of mathematics, circles are measured in degrees. There are 360 degrees in a circle. Since the earth is basically circular, it was decided to measure latitude and longitude in degrees also. The first latitude line is the Equator (equally distant between the north and south poles), and it is given the value of zero degrees latitude. It is the longest of all latitude lines because it runs around the widest part of the Earth. All other latitude lines are parallel to the Equator, and measured in degrees north or south of the Equator. There are a maximum of 90 degrees of latitude to the north or the south of the Equator for a total of 180 degrees of latitude. The north pole is located at 90 degrees north, and the south pole is located at 90 degrees south.
The first longitude line is the Prime Meridian and it is given the value of zero degrees longitude. Any meridian could have been chosen as the Prime Meridian because they are all exactly the same. The Prime Meridian was selected by international agreement in October of 1884, when representatives from 25 nations met in Washington, D.C. All other longitude lines are measured in degrees east or west of the Prime Meridian. There are a maximum of 180 degrees on longitude to the east or the west of the Prime Meridian, for a total of 360 degrees of longitude.
It is approximately 69 miles between two latitude lines (parallels). For more accuracy in location, degrees can be divided into smaller parts. One degree can be divided into 60 minutes (depicted by a single quotation mark), and one minute can be divided into 60 seconds (depicted by a double quotation mark).

C. How do I use latitude and longitude?
If someone asked you the location of the local town bank, you may say “It is on the