Latitude and Longitude for Kids: Ptolemy's Map Coordinates Explained

Hey everyone! I'm so excited that you're back  and joining me again for project maps. Oh man,   this felt like such a long time since I've  seen you all. Whoa, what's - oh, oh my mouth.   Well, that actually has something  to do with what we're learning  

about today. Today we're going to be  going over latitude and longitude. Now before on project maps, we learned  about the compass rose, the map key,   and the map grid. Now, who remembers what these  are? Sometimes I forget. So let's go over them a  

little bit. All right, so the compass rose is like  a compass for your map. It shows you directions:   north, south, east, and west. And the map key  shows you all the symbols that mean different   places on your map. And finally, the map grid  is a series of rows and columns that help you  

find where you need to go on your map.  Man, I wish I could just invent something   that helped you remember everything  you ever learned. I would be famous. If you were gonna get famous for  something, what would it be for?  

Would it be that you discovered  that unicorns really exist?   Would you discover a whole new planet?  Would you make the next best video game?   Let me tell you about a guy who was really famous  in the world of maps. He lived a long time ago,  

and his name was Ptolemy. Yeah, that's a weird  spelling, I know. His name starts with a P,   but it's silent. So it sounds like  it starts with the T for Ptolemy.   So Ptolemy was one of the most famous geographers  to have ever lived, and we're going to talk about  

how his ideas still help us today. This is one  of the earliest and oldest maps we know about.   It's clear that maps have changed quite a bit  since this one. This is an ancient Babylonian   map of the world. It was carved on clay and it  dates back to about 600 B.C. That means it's over  

2,000 years old. This is the kind of map that  Ptolemy worked with. Ptolemy was born around   100 A.D., and he was a Roman citizen, and he loved  math and astronomy and poetry, and he especially   loved geography. Ptolemy gave us something very  special when it comes to maps. He's famous for  

giving us map coordinates, or those lines we see  on the map. We can see them here on a modern day   map. The lines that go across show latitude, and  the lines that go up and down show longitude.   Have you ever looked at a map and thought to  yourself, what are all these lines doing here?  

Well, remember the grid or the squares on our  safari map? They helped us find our way, right?   Well, these imaginary lines that Ptolemy came  up with also help us find our way. The latitude   and longitude lines for a grid or squares, just  like on our safari map. Now these lines aren't  

real. You can't go outside and look at the ground  and see a line that helps you find your way. But   these imaginary lines will still help you when  you're reading a map. Today you can use a GPS   system in your car or on your phone to figure out  where you are, but it hasn't always been that way.  

We've always been able to figure out where  we're going or where we are thanks to these   lines that Ptolemy came up with. This big  imaginary line runs right through the middle   of our map. It's almost like it's cutting the  Earth in half. This line is called the equator.  

This area above the equator is north of the  equator, and the area down below the equator is   south of the equator. Okay, here's where it gets  good. These lines that run north of the equator   and that run south of the equator are called  latitude lines. Hold your arms out like this.  

This is the way that latitude lines run, across.  You can also just say lat lines are flat lines.   Can you see how the lines are numbered from 0  to 90 in this map? The 0 and 90 are coordinates,   just like on our safari map. Every latitude  line has a number, as well as a letter N,  

to show that it's north of the equator, or  S to show that it's south of the equator.   Moving up from the equator is moving north, and  moving down away from the equator is moving south.   Stay tuned for more info on Ptolemy's imaginary  lines. But first it's time for our map rap.

It's a rap about maps, a rap about maps.  North, south, east, west. I look at a map   when I'm on my quest. Where am I going? What's  the map showing? Is there a lake or a mountain,   or a river that's flowing? It's a rap about maps,  a rap about maps. North, south, east, west. Tuck  

it in my pocket when I'm wearing a vest. Knowing  how to read a map, now that's the key. I've got   a few handy. Come on and follow me. Maps, maps,  I love to read them. Maps, maps, I love to hold   them. Maps, maps, maps, maps, and everybody  has trouble trying to fold them. It's a rap  

about maps, a rap about maps. North, south,  east, west. When you're on a journey, maps   are the best. That's a rap about maps, a rap about maps. Welcome  back. Now before, we were talking about latitude  

lines that run north and south of the equator.  Now we need to add our east and west part of our   coordinates. This is the prime meridian. The  equator is a line that divides our map into   north and south. The prime meridian is a line that  divides our map into east and west. It also has a  

coordinate of zero. Longitude lines are the lines  that run east and west of the prime meridian. An   easy way to remember which way longitude lines  go is the word long. Longitude lines are long.   The long longitude lines go east and west of the  prime meridian, and they go from coordinate zero  

all the way to coordinate 180. Okay, now it's time  to put our latitude and longitude lines together.   If we use our latitude and longitude lines and our  coordinates, we can find any location on the map.   Latitude lines first. I like to say flat first,  long last to help me remember. Huh, I wonder if  

Ptolemy used that same trick to tell him which  was which. The coordinates of our first mystery   location are 0 and 60 west. Remember, we look for  latitude first because latitude has an attitude if   we don't. Here is our latitude line at zero. Next  let's find 60 west, which is the longitude line.  

Follow the lines. Where do they lead us? Brazil.  Our next mystery location is 30 north and 30 east.   Don't forget latitude first. So 30 north is  our latitude. Then 30 east is our longitude. Where do they meet? Egypt. All right, one more.  Now you're becoming an expert at this. Here we go.  

Latitude is 30 south and longitude is 135 east.  And the mystery location is Australia. Great work.   Ptolemy would be proud. A great way to explore  coordinates using latitude and longitude is   through geocaching. Geocaching is a game people  play, where they use a map, GPS, or other  

navigational tools to hide and seek containers or  caches at specific locations. Maybe you and your   family would want to pick up geocaching as a new  hobby, practicing your map skills. You can also   have fun with your family by picking out mystery  locations on a map. Don't be afraid to show off  

your new skills. Take turns giving each other  coordinates and then race to find the locations.   All right, that's it for today. Thanks so much  for watching, and remember to always be clever.