October 12 - October 13, 2011

     These students are learning about lines of longitude.  They initially added the prime meridian and 180 degrees longitude to their pumpkin globes.  Now they're adding 90 degrees east and 90 degrees west with purple yarn.
    Before adding these lines they had to determine where 90 degrees east and west belonged on their pumpkin globes (halfway between the prime meridian and 180).  They answered some challenging questions to help them figure this out:  How far from the prime meridian can you travel before you start getting closer to the prime meridian?  Why don't the prime meridian and 180 degrees longitude of letters designating east or west?  How many degrees of longitude would you travel if you went around the entire earth? 
     This is also a geometry lesson.  They learned that there are 360 degrees around any circle.

Click the video below  to view it.

Why aren't the Prime Meridian and 180 degrees longitude designated East or West?