Page 117 - SST Class 06

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Latitudes and Longitudes

Did you know, that Axis is shown passing through North Pole and
there is a way for South Pole in the center of the earth on which
you to see the entire the globe lies in tilted manner. The earth in space
world at a glance? is also placed in tilted position. It is because of
Surprised? Yes, with this tilted axis that phenomena such as days and
the help of a globe, nights of different durations and seasons happen
one can see the on earth. The earth also rotates around it just as
entire earth at a globe is shown rotating on its tilted axis.
glance. Not just the
different continents
and oceans, you can Pierce a knitting needle through a ball and place it in
even see the differ- Globe tilted manner on a flat wooden board. Name the end
ent lines like latitudes and longitudes on the points of needle A and B. This is how the earth is
globe. But, what is this globe and what are the placed in the sky. Now, answer the questions below :
latitudes and longitudes? Let’s find out more 1. What is the axis of the earth?
about Globe – Latitudes and Longitudes. 2. At what angle is the axis tilted with respect to the
base (wooden board)?
A globe is a true model of the earth, in a very
3. In which direction does the earth spin on its axis?
compact form. In a globe, there is a needle called
the axis that is fixed through the globe in a tilted
An equator is an imaginary line around the
manner. This axis of the globe passes through
middle of a planet or other celestial bodies. It is
two extreme points known as the Poles (the
halfway between the North Pole and the South
North Pole and the South Pole). The axis is
Pole, at 0 degrees latitude. An equator divides
shown in the form of a needle on the globe. In
the planet into a Northern Hemisphere and a
reality, the earth has no such axis.
Southern Hemisphere.
Globes may be of different sizes and types. Big
The earth is widest at its Equator. The distance
Globes are expensive and awkward to carry
around the earth at the Equator, its circumfer-
around. But now, small pocket globes and globe
ence is 40,075 kilometers (24,901 miles).
like balloons, which can be inflated and are
The earth’s diameter is also wider at the Equator,
handier than before, they can be folded and
creating a phenomenon called an equatorial
carried easily. On the Globe, location of coun-
bulge. The diameter of a circle is measured by a
tries, continents and oceans are shown correctly.
straight line that passes through the center of the
Although globe is shown moving on an inclined
circle and has its endpoints on the boundary of
needle, the real earth has no such needle. It
that circle. Scientists can calculate the diameter of
rotates around its axis, which is an imaginary
latitudes, such as the Equator and Arctic Circle.
line.
Social Science-6 117