The Form and Size of Earth |
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The Form and Size of the Earth
Imagine that you took the earth and sliced it in half from
the North Pole to the South Pole, running your knife from
north to south through the Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean.
You would end up with two half spheres, called
hemispheres (hemi- is a prefix that means "half").
These two hemispheres are known as the Western
Hemisphere and the Eastern Hemisphere.
1.
What prefix means “half”?
The Western Hemisphere has also been called the "New World"
because it includes North America and South America, lands
that were "new" to Europeans following the famous voyage of
Christopher Columbus in 1492.
2.
What European explorer famously sailed to the Americas in
1492?
The Eastern Hemisphere contains, basically, everything else.
It has also been called the "Old World" because it
contains Africa, Asia, and Europe, lands that were known to
Europeans before the voyage of Columbus.
a.
Africa
b.
Antarctica
c.
Asia
d.
Europe
4.
The illustration above is of the _____ Hemisphere.
a.
Eastern
b.
Northern
c.
Southern
d.
Western
5.
The
illustration above is of the _____ Hemisphere.
a.
Eastern
b.
Northern
c.
Southern
d.
Western
The earth is a great ball of land and water, surrounded by a
shell of air.
We see so small a part of the earth at a time that it does
not look like a ball, but there are many proofs that the
earth is round (without requiring us to fly into space on a
rocket ship).
Here are a few of them:
·
Many persons have gone around the earth.
·
As ships sail out to sea, their hulls are lost to sight
while their sails are clearly seen.
·
When travelers go day after day towards the north or the
south, new stars rise over the horizon before them, while
the stars behind sink beneath the horizon.
·
Sometimes the earth moves between the sun and the moon and
casts a shadow on the moon.
The edge of this shadow always looks like part of a
circle.
6.
Given the numerous proofs we have that the earth is round,
why do you suppose that so many people believed, for
centuries, that the earth is flat?
The sun and the moon are round, like the earth.
The moon is smaller than the earth, but the sun is
many times larger.
The shadow of the earth on the moon is called an
eclipse of the moon.
There may also be an eclipse of the sun, when the
moon is between the earth and the sun.
7.
The shadow of the earth on the moon is known as what?
The great body of water which surrounds the land is called
the sea.
Various parts of the sea are known as oceans.
The oceans lie in broad hollows on the earth.
Label the following on the map above.
8.
Atlantic Ocean
9.
North America
10.
Pacific Ocean
11.
South America
The earth is so large that the distance from side to side,
through the center (diameter), is nearly 8,000 miles.
The greatest distance around the earth
(circumference) is about 25,000 miles.
Billions of people live on the earth, and yet a large
part of the land is not used.
12.
Approximately what is the earth’s diameter?
13.
Approximately what is the earth’s circumference?
Label the following on the map above.
14.
Africa
15.
Asia
16.
Australia
17.
Europe
18.
Indian Ocean |
