Found Lesson Plan for OWA

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Archive : 2002 : August : 9

Found Lesson Plan for OWA
By Janie

The teacher who gave me this lesson plan is awesome. He also gave me a cd full of Social Studies activities. I am trying to copy on the SS board for a resource. Enjoy!

An Orange with Attitude
Presented by Purley Decker,
AIG 2000
Purpose:
The purpose of this lesson is to help children to visualize the difference between latitude and longitude.
Overview:
This activity uses oranges to demonstrate the difference between latitude and longitude.
Grade Range:
Grades 3-12
Standards:
Geography standard: 1
Materials Needed:
One orange for each student plus one for the teacher.
Non-toxic

markers.

Objectives:
Students will gain a visual understanding of the difference between latitude and longitude.

Procedures:
1. Give each student an orange and a marker.
2. Tell the students not to peel their oranges.
3. Explain that the stem end of the orange represents the North Pole and the blossom end (navel) represents the South Pole. Have the students label the stem end ¡°N¡± and the blossom end ¡°S¡±.
4. Have the students hold their oranges with the ¡°North Pole¡± up.
5. Have them draw a line around their oranges halfway between the North Pole and the South Pole. Ask them what this line represents. (the Equator).
6. Have them draw a line halfway between the North Pole and the Equator and another halfway between the South Pole and the Equator. Explain that these are the 45th parallels. Tell them that the 45th parallel north crosses through our state just north of New Meadows.
7. Have them draw lines halfway between the 45th parallels and the Equator. These lines represent the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn and are the northern and southern borders of the Tropics.
8. Have them draw lines halfway between the 45th parallels and the North and South Poles. These lines represent the Arctic and Antarctic Circles and create the borders of the polar regions of the earth.
9. Ask the students what they notice about their lines on the oranges. (They are parallel and of equal distance apart.)
10. Explain to the students that these lines are called parallels and measure distance north and south of the Equator. These parallel lines are called latitude.
11. Ask the students what word rhymes with latitude and describes their feelings toward learning (both good and bad). ¡°ATTITUDE. If you have a bad attitude, what do you need to do? GET RID OF IT. Now peal your latitude with attitude off of your orange by pealing your orange.¡±
12. Once everyone has pealed their oranges, ask them if they notice any natural lines on their new ¡°globe¡±. They should answer the section lines of the orange. Explain that these lines run from the North Pole to the South Pole or from the South Pole to the North Pole and are farthest apart at the Equator. All of these lines intersect at the poles and are therefore not parallel. We call these lines meridians and they measure longitude or distance east and west of the Prime Meridian.
13. Have the students pick one of the section lines to be their Prime Meridian. Have them locate the meridian on the exact opposite side of their orange. This meridian would be the International Date Line and is 180¢ª East and West of the Prime Meridian.
14. Let the students eat their oranges.