SIENCE 7

• Earth's grid or coordinate system

  The position or location of any place on the Earth's surface

  
• Latitude


  The measurement on a globe or map of a place north or south of the equator

  
• Identifying latitudinal positions on maps or globes

  1. Equidistant circles are plotted and drawn parallel to the equator and each other

  2. These are known as the parallels, or parallels of latitude

  
• Equator


  • The great circle around the Earth that is equidistant from the geographic poles and lies in a plane perpendicular to the Earth's axis
  • It divides the Earth halfway into the Northern and Southern hemispheres at 0 degrees latitude and forms the imaginary reference line

  
• Lines of latitude with special names

  • Equator (0°)
  • Tropic of Cancer (23.5°N)
  • Tropic of Capricorn (23.5°S)
  • Arctic Circle (66.5°N)
  • Antarctic Circle (66.5°S)

  
• Tropics


  • The part of the world between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn
  • Countries in this zone experience a tropical climate where the annual average temperature is above 18°C
• Northern and southern temperate zones


  • Between the Tropic of Cancer and the Arctic Circle (northern)
  • Between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Antarctic Circle (southern)
  • Countries in these zones go through four seasons – winter, spring, summer, and autumn
• Polar regions or frigid zones


  • The areas within the Arctic Circle and Antarctic Circle
  • Temperatures never go above 10°C, cold all year round
• Latitude of a place


  The climate it experiences
• • The closer the latitude is to the equator, the warmer the climate
  • The closer it is to the poles, the colder