Students will be able to use Internet Mapping
Resources to produce maps of a given latitude and longitude.
| Grade 9-12: Utah Core Curriculum Standard: 3520-0701 | Investigate an ecosystem using the tools of an ecologist. |
| Grade 9 -12: Utah Core Curriculum Standard: 3520-0801 | Hypothesize the interrelationship of one variable in an ecosystem to others (e.g., plant and soil characteristics, temperature). Analyze and report results. |
| Grade 9-12: Utah Core Curriculum Standard: 3520-0803 | Collect information on local, national, and/or global practices that affect ecosystems and evaluate the scientific accuracy of the collected information. Present a position on the basis of this information. |
Materials Needed:
Map of the Western United
States and Canada
Internet Access to /swan/
or
E-mails
containing the latitude and longitude of a Tundra Swan
Preparation:
When your students log onto the Shadow A Swan web site and click on the Maps link they will be able to select the swan they are tracking and bring up a map of it's last reported location. I have found that it is useful to have a large classroom map complete with latitude and longitude coordinates marked on the map. I have six different classes following the swans and each class is following two of the swans. While I call roll for the day, two teams of two students log onto the web site and record the longitude, latitude, and date of their swan's most recent location. One of the two students writes the data on the blackboard for the rest of the class to record in their notebooks. The other team member uses the latitude and longitude to plot swan's position on the map (using a map pin or sticky dot). The team then explains to the class where their swan is located so that classmembers may mark the location on their individual maps.
Lesson Activity:
Entire Class
1. Define Latitude: Angular distance measured in degrees, minutes, and seconds North or South of the equator.
2. Define Longitude: Angular distance measured in degrees, minutes, and seconds East and West of the Prime Meridian (an imaginary line that runs North/South through Greenwich, England).
3. The coordinates supplied to the Shadow A Swan project are reported in degrees and thousandths of degrees. A latitude of 41.420 is read as 41 and 420 thousandths degrees North of the equator. A latitude of 112.100 is read as 112 and 100 thousandths degrees West of the Prime Meridian. Note: most websites require the addition of the letters N to signify North or W to signify West. Other web sites use a negative sign to indicated West of the Prime Meridan.
Individual Work
1. Students visit http://www.topozone.com/
or http://www.terraserver.microsoft.com/advfind.asp?W=0
2. Scroll down and enter the latitude and longitude for
your swan. Note: at the microsoft site use a negative sign to indicate
Western longitudes. Note: at the topozone site you will need to click
on the link to decimal degrees under GET A MAP. Use a negative sign
to enter Western longitudes.
3. Record important landmarks on the computer map and then locate the corresponding area on the classroom map. Place your pin or sticky spot apporpriately.