A C T I V I T I E S
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A C T I V I T I E S |
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| Imagine an orange as a model of the earth. |
| Wash it with soap and
water to remove any
waxy coating. Roll
the orange on a
table top with the
flat of your hand to
loosen the peel.
Take the orange and
put a flat rubber
band around the
middle of it,
covering the stem
and the navel. Now
the orange is
divided, into equal
halves. Take another
rubber band and put
it around the middle
of the orange the
other way, exactly
halfway between the
stem and the navel.
The first rubber
band represents the
prime meridian; the
second rubber band
represents the
equator. Mark along
each line with a
marker, or scratch
along each line with
a straightened paper
clip or a
fingernail. (Markers
can be a little
messy). Remove the
rubber bands after
you have traced both
circles on the
orange. |
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| The first circle you traced is the
prime meridian, an imaginary line
which goes through the North Pole,
England, western Africa and the
South Pole. Using a globe for
reference, find and mark (or
scratch) the approximate centers
for each of these land masses on
the orange, using the lines you
marked as guidelines. (e.g. What
part of Africa is above the
equator? About how far would it go
south of the equator on your
orange? What parts of Africa are
west of the prime meridian?) Find
and mark the centers of other
continents in the same way. (Where
is South America in relation to
Africa and the equator?) Working
out from the center, scribble or
scrape the rough shape of all the
continents on the surface of the
orange. Don't worry about doing it
perfectly and don't try to draw
outlines; it's almost impossible to
draw them accurately. Scribble in
the shapes instead and concentrate
on where places are in relation to
each other. |
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| When you are done, carefully cut
through the line around the equator
with a plastic knife or a paper
clip, without cutting the orange
underneath. Carefully slide your
finger between the peel and the
orange segments to completely
separate them. Now slowly remove
the two hemispheres of your orange
without breaking any of the peel.
(You may need help with this.) The
lines between orange segments,
running parallel to the prime
meridian and perpendicular to the
equator, represent lines of
longitude. You can eat the areas
between these lines. |
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| Place the two half globes, or
hemispheres, on the table with the
continents facing up. If you wanted
to have flat maps like those in a
book, the continents would have to
be flat. What do you have to do to
make the 3D contintents into flat,
2D maps? Go ahead and flatten them.
What happens? |
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See how other people map the world...
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