Now that you have an understanding of Latitude and Longitude, you’re ready to build your own map. We are going to use Planiglobe for the first part of this project. Click here to open the site in a new window. Note: Keep both windows open so that you can refer back to the directions below.
Planiglobe is computer-based, meaning that it doesn’t understand non-numeric symbols. This means that we are going to have to convert Degrees to decimal points. To do that, think about conversions. (Hint: 1 Degree = _ Minutes?) If Newport is located at 41º28N, 71º22’W, how could that be represented in decimals? Here’s what we’re going to do:
- Look back at your Planiglobe page
- Click on Add Places on the left
- In the Decidrome at the bottom of this new window, type in the values for Latitude and Longitude to get the decimal places
- After you type the Degrees and Minutes, click the red arrow to get the calculation
Just for practice, I want you to follow the directions above the Decidrome and Plot Newport on your map. What do you notice? How does the notation work?
Plot the Flight Path
For homework, you should have found the Latitude and Longitude of where the plane took off in England. Now, find the coordinates for where you think the plane would have landed. Know that you can type a city and state into the Find City or Town box to get close. Make note of those coordinates.
Now, we want to plot our track by typing in both the coordinates in England as well as the coordinates for our landing spot. Make sure that you read the directions in the Add Places window.
Save your Map
Finally, we want to save our map so that we can start discussing where the plane crashed. Once you have your map completed with the track, click on Printer Friendly. This will open your map in a new window. From there, hold down the Control key and click in the middle of the image. This will give you the option to Save Image to Documents. Go ahead and do this.