Author: jmcminn

Years 5
Summer

Our Beautiful World
Geography — Earth

In this unit the children will:
Identify the position and significance of lines of latitude, longitude, the Equator, Northern and Southern hemispheres, the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, the Artic and Antarctic circles, the Prime/Greenwich Meridian and time zones (including day and night)
Use maps, atlases, globes and digital/computer mapping including Geographical Information Systems (GIS) to identify features
Use 8 points of the compass
Record results and geographical information in a variety of ways, appropriate to audience, including writing at length

Key Vocabulary
Latitude - is the measurement of distance north or south of the Equator
Longitude - distance measured in degrees east or west of an imaginary line (The Prime or Greenwich meridian) that runs from the north pole to the south pole and passes through Greenwich, England.
Equator - an imaginary line around the middle of the Earth
Northern and Southern Hemispheres - distance measured in degrees east or west of an imaginary line that runs from the north pole to the south pole and passes through Greenwich, England.
Tropic of Cancer - The Tropic of Cancer is an imaginary latitude line above the equator that runs across the globe at about 23 degrees north.
Tropic of Capricorn - The Tropic of Capricorn is an imaginary latitude line below the equator whose latitude line circles the globe at about 23 degrees south.
Artic circle - The Arctic Circle is a line of latitude , which is an imaginary horizontal line around the Earth near the North Pole. The lands and ocean north of the Arctic Circle is called the Arctic
Antarctic circle - The Antarctic Circle is a line of latitude that circles the Earth near the South Pole. All the lands between the Antarctic Circle and the South Pole are called Antarctica.
Prime /Greenwich meridian - The prime meridian is also called the Greenwich meridian and is a line of longitude that passes through Greenwich, England.
Time zones - Time zones are divided by imaginary lines called meridians which run from the North Pole to the South Pole. The Prime meridian splits the world into eastern and western hemispheres.

Key Knowledge
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zvsfr82/articles/zd4rmfr
To help locate where a place is in the world, people use imaginary lines:
To find out how far north or south a place is, lines of latitude are used. These lines run parallel to the Equator.
To find out how far east or west a place is, lines of longitude are used. These lines run from the top of the Earth to the bottom.
The Equator is at the centre of the lines of latitude and is at 0° latitude. Anything lying south of the Equator is in the Southern Hemisphere and is labelled °S. Anything lying north of the Equator is in the Northern Hemisphere and is labelled °N. The North Pole is 90° N and the South Pole is 90° S.
The Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn are lines of latitude 23 degrees north and south of the Equator.
Apart from the Equator these are the 2 most important lines of latitude.

The Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn are the latitudes at which the sun’s rays hit the Earth’s surface at a right angle both during summer and winter solstice. At the start of winter in the northern hemisphere the sun’s rays are only hitting the Earth’s surface at a right angle (meaning the sun is directly overhead) at the Tropic of Capricorn. During the northern hemisphere’s summer the sun is directly overhead if you were standing at the Tropic of Cancer.
A solstice is an event that occurs when the Sun appears to reach its most northerly or southerly point relative to the equator. Two solstices occur every year. In the northern hemisphere the summer solstice, which is the day when we have the most sunlight, occurs around the 21st June. The winter solstice, which is the day when we have the least sunlight, occurs around the 21st December. This is the opposite way around in the southern hemisphere.
The equinox is when the sun is directly above the Equator so the length of day light and darkness is of equal length. This happens around the 21st March and the 23rd September.
The seasons on Earth change because the planet is slightly tilted on its axis as it travels around the Sun. This means different points on Earth receive more or less sunlight at different times of year. If Earth were not tilted, the Sun would always appear to be directly above the Equator, the amount of light a given location receives would be fixed, and there would be no seasons. There also would be no need to mark equinoxes or solstices.

Key Knowledge
The Arctic and Antarctic circles are imaginary lines of latitude that surround the north and south poles at 66.5 degrees latitude.
Day length varies with the time of year and the latitude at which you are situated.
The Antarctic Circle is the southern counterpart of the Arctic Circle which is in the northern hemisphere, where on any given date conditions of daylight or darkness are exactly opposite. Because of the earth's tilt, areas above the Arctic Circle receive 24 hours of sunlight each summer, but 24 hours of darkness each winter. The number of days per year with potential midnight sun increases the closer you go towards either pole. If there are 24 hours of sunlight in the arctic circle then there will be 24 hrs of darkness in the Antarctic circle and vice versa.
Time Zones
Time zones are divided by imaginary lines called meridians which run from the North Pole to the South Pole.
There is an imaginary line running through the UK called the Prime Meridian. It runs through a place in London called Greenwich.
The Prime Meridian splits the world into eastern and western hemispheres.
Time in countries to the east of the Prime Meridian is always in front of that in the UK.
Time in countries to the west of the Prime Meridian is always behind that of the UK.
As the Earth rotates on its axis, the Sun only shines on the side of the Earth that it is facing. This means: it is daytime for the parts of the Earth that have the Sun shining on them and it is night-time for places that are on the opposite side of the Earth that are in the shade.
As it is night in some parts of the world while it is day in other parts, different places in the world have different times. This is why the world is divided into 24 different time zones. One for each hour in a day. Very large countries that are spread out across many time zones, such as Russia or the USA, are divided into separate time zones. Most smaller countries keep to the same time zone even if part of them falls outside a meridian line. The whole of the UK is in the same time zone but if you fly east or west you will need to change your clock/watch.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zvsfr82/articles/zjk46v4