your problem SOLVED

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your problem SOLVED
By suzie

Hi! I teach longitude and latitude to my 4th graders around Halloween. I have each student bring in a pumpkin no bigger than a basketball (can be as small as those gourd-type mini pumpkins). In the days prior to the pumpkin
due date, I teach the kids about longitude and latitude using a globe and maps. When they all have their pumpkins, we begin marking them with crayons (they can be wiped off easily if they make a mistake). They immediately notice that the pumpkins naturally have the longitude lines. So we trace those and mark one of the lines as the Prime Meridian. We follow that line around the

opposite side of the pumpkin to find and label 180 degrees. Each line to the west we just mark "degrees West" and those to the east we mark "degrees East." We find the center of the pumpkin and mark it as the Equator (0 degrees). We mark the stem as the North Pole and label it 90 degrees North, and the bottom of the pumpkin is the South Pole marked as 90 degrees South. They then draw their own latitude lines above the Equator and mark them degrees North, and a few lines below the Equator marking them degrees South. This lesson is so fun and the kids GET IT!!!!! I usually have them take their pumpkins to a spot in the room and with a partner, review all of the parts of their "Earth Model". I hope this works as well for you as it does for me! Let me know!!!