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TheWorldin YourHands
By Trista L. Pollard
spin
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equator
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d ifferent
Directions: Fill in eachblank with the word that bestcompletesthe readingcomprehension.
You seeit everyday.It sits on the shelfor by the window in your
classroom.Do you everwonderwhy it's there?well, the globe in
your classroomlet'syou seeour world moreclosely.It allowsvou to
haveour world in your hands.
Globesarea scaleor smallermodel of the Earth.They aremore
accurateor correctcopiesof our planetthanpapermaps.Why?
Globesshowthe Earthas it would look from space.You get to see
the curved or round surfaces.You also seethat the Earth is tilted or slantedto one
(l) _
. When you look at a globe, you may notice how it
turns on its axis. with a globe, that axis is a thin pole that goesthrough the centerof the
globe. with our planet,the axis is an imaginary pole. Now let's retum to the globe.
Globesare able to (2)
. This helpsyou to seea modelof
how the Earth 6)
on lts axls.
Speakingof the world, you should know the important featuresof a globe. Maps also
have thesesamefeatures.However, a globe is not flat like a map. It is a threedimensionalmodel. On a globe you can seetwo very important
(4)
. They are the (5)
and
the prime (6) . Remember,thesetwo lines are not drawn
on Earth. However, geographersand navigators know they are there becauseoftheir
degrees.Degreesare units of measurementthat are part of a circle. A completecircle has
360'(degrees).
Sincethe Earthis a (7)
or threedimensional
circle,you travel360"if you go completelyaroundthe Earth.Geographers
usethe equatorand the prime meridianasthe startingpoints for finding locationson
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Earth.The equatormeasures0 degreesand the prime meridian measures0 degrees.
The equatorand the prime meridian run aroundthe centerof the Earth in
(B)
directions.The equatorrunsaroundthe centerof the
Earthandthe globe.It dividesour planetinto two halvescalledhemispheres.
The
hemisphereabovethe equatoris the Northern hemisphere. The hemispherebelow the
equatoris the Southernhemisphere.
The prime meridiancrossesthe equatorand runs aroundthe
(e)
of the E,arth.However"it runs aroundthe Earth from
North to South.It alsodividesour planetandthe globeinto
(t0)
. To the (l l)
prime meridianthereis the Western (12)
the (t3)
meridianalsoruns (14)
of the
. To the right of
meridianis the Easternhemisphere.The prime
Greenwich,England.
Therearetwo otherimportantplacesthat you shouldknow abouton the globe.They
arethe poles.The ( I 5)
( 16)
aretwo areasaboveand
the equator.They arealsothe coldestplaceson Earth.
The North Pole and the South Pole are both located90ofrom the equator.This means
that if you could walk from the equatorin a straight line north, you would reachthe North
Pole.If you walkedin a (17)
line from the equatorsouth,
you would reachthe South Pole.
So now if anyonesaysthat "you have the world in your hands,"think aboutthe globe
in your classroom.
CopyrightO 201| edHelper
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Page9 of 12
Name
The World in Your Hands
1 . T h e g l o b e ,l i k et h e E a r t h ,s p i n so n
its G Slant
G'Axis
@ Hemisphere
.E-- Meridian
2. Whatare hemispheres?
3. Howis the equatordifferent
is
fromthe 4. To the rightof the primemeridian
primemeridian?
theG Southern
hemtsphere
G Northern
hemisphere
G;- Westernhemisphere
G' Easternhemisphere
s. Complete
6. TheNorthPoleandSouthPoleare
the sentence:
The
is located
found
fromthe equator.
Northernhemisphere
G'90o
@ 360o
G
1g0o
G'0o
7. Completethe sentence:The
Southernhemisphereis located
8. The Earthis tiltedor slantedto one
sideon its axis.
--E' False
,.1E:True
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