Our Mission:
Track hurricanes using exact latitude and longitude
coordinates.

Finding Locations on Earth
How could you describe the exact location of a dot on a
basketball?
Latitude and Longitude make an
imaginary grid system on Earth to
help find exact locations.

Find as many differences as you
can between these two diagrams?

Latitude Lines…
• Drawn East to West, but are used
to measure North and South of
the Equator.
• The Equator is a line of Latitude.
• Separates Earth into Northern and
Southern hemispheres.
• Also called Parallels because they
never intersect and run parallel to
the equator.
• Labeled using N or S
• (N) Positive numbers if located in
the northern hemisphere.
• (S) Negative numbers if located in
the southern hemisphere.
• RANGE: 0-90 degrees

Latitude Lines
0° Equator
90°N North Pole
90°S South Pole
23.5° S Tropic of Capricorn
23.5°N Tropic of Cancer

Latitude Lines
For example: The tropic of cancer is 23.5°N.
What is the range of
possible latitude?
0° to 90° N
and
0° to - 90° S
Label north if in
northern hemisphere
and south if in
southern hemisphere.

Longitude Lines…
• Drawn North and South, but are
used to measure East and West of
the Prime Meridian.
• The Prime Meridian is a line of
Longitude.
• Separates Earth into Eastern and
Western hemispheres.
• Also called Meridians because
they are curved and intersect at
the poles.
• Labeled using E or W
• (E) Positive if located in the
Eastern hemisphere.
• (W) Negative if located in the
Western hemisphere.
• RANGE: 0-180 degrees

Longitude Lines
0° Prime Meridian
Longitude lines are
curved and meet at
the poles.

Latitude and Longitude Lines
We can put latitude and longitude together to find exact locations
on earth’s surface.
Example: Milwaukee,
Wisconsin
 Use latitude to find
how far north or
south.
 Use longitude to
find how far west or
east.
Latitude is always first in
your coordinates.
44°N, -89°W

Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale
Category Wind speed
mph
5 ≥156
4 131–155
3 111–130
2 96–110
1 74–95
Additional classifications
Tropical
storm
39–73
Tropical
depression
0–38
L

L

Latitude, Longitude, and Google Earth
Track the latest hurricanes using exact latitude and
longitude coordinates on Google Earth

Degrees, Minutes, and Seconds
 Each degree of latitude and longitude
can be divided into minutes (‘) and
seconds (“).
 Every degree has 60’ minutes of separation
 Every minute has 60” seconds of separation.
 Arc seconds can be further divided into
tenths, hundreds, and even thousandths.

Degrees, Minutes, and Seconds
 Each degree of latitude and longitude
can be divided into minutes (‘) and
seconds (“).
 Every degree has 60’ minutes of separation
 Every minute has 60” seconds of separation.
 Arc seconds can be further divided into
tenths, hundreds, and even thousandths.