The Story of Longitude
The Greatest Intellectual Puzzle of the 16th and 17th Centuries
What Are We Doing?
Content Area Study Cross Discipline Unit
Social Studies is Everything!
Using Technology for Differentiation
First, a Story
Latitude & Longitude
Latitude is Easy to Find
The angle of the sun over the horizon on any given day is directly related to the location one is viewing from.
Determining Latitude
Was Chris Really Taking a Chance?
Columbus would have used a magnetic compass, a speed log, and a logbook.
He was what we now call a dead reckoning navigator. Because he could NOT determine longitude,his course would have looked like this:
We Understand Latitude -
But What About Longitude?
Longitude is a Measurement of TIME translated to DEGREES
Longitude - measured in minutes, seconds 1 degree=60 minutes= 69 miles
1 second=1.15 miles (eq)
So, put it together
Location is Now a Grid
Expressed in degrees N or S of the equator – Latitude & degrees E or W of Greenwich (Prime Meridian)-Longitude
But the Devil is in the Details
• In 1700, there was no accurate way to
•
measure time. In order to be practical, time measurement must be accurate to within a few seconds every month. A time keeping device must function perfectly on a sailing ship at sea – in the most corrosive atmosphere possible.
•
Enter John Harrison, clockmaker
Harrison’s Successful Chronometer – H4
Time at the Prime Meridian
Less local time measured at Noon = Longitude
Now, English Ships Could Travel Diagonally
H4 – A Technological Advancement
Led to…. • Superior English Navigation • English Mastery of the Seas • Establishment of a World Wide Empire • Fundamental Shift in the World’s Power • Alteration of World History…..and • Made our World
How Do You Teach What You Just Heard?
• Content Area Mastery is Key
• Cross-Discipline Integration Reinforces
Reading, Math, Science & Social Studies
Social Studies is Everything!!
What Have We Done?
Content Area Study Cross Discipline Unit
Social Studies is Everything!
Now,
Using Technology for Differentiation
Unit Planning Across Disciplines
Differentiation Using Technology
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