Alabama Social Studies SS24.3.1a

Social Studies3rd GradeGeography

The Standard

SS24.3.1: Locate map features, using geographic terminology to describe them.

Identify the Equator, International Date Line, Prime Meridian, Tropic of Capricorn, and Tropic of Cancer, using cardinal and intermediate directions.

2024 Alabama Course of Study: Social Studies

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students find and label five reference lines on a world map or globe. They use a compass rose to describe where marked points on those lines sit, including northeast and southwest.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student places the Equator and two tropics at the right latitudes. They distinguish the Prime Meridian from the Date Line and describe a marked point on a line using the correct direction.
Common Misconceptions: Students may draw the Prime Meridian across the map like the Equator or swap the northern and southern tropics. They may draw the Date Line as perfectly straight. Some say northeast when a point is only north.
How to Assess It: On a gridded world map, ask students to label all five lines. Have them mark the Tropic of Cancer at 30°E and write its direction from 0°, 0°.

Lesson moves

Tape yarn along the Equator and tropics on a printed map, then draw the Prime Meridian and the bending Date Line.
Mark 0°, 0° and the Tropic of Cancer at 30°E on a map; ask why the second mark is northeast.
Play map bingo with clues such as '23.5°N,' '0° longitude,' and 'near 180° longitude'; students cover the matching line names.
Plot flights from Los Angeles to Tokyo and back; mark where each crosses the Date Line and predict the date change.

Free download

A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to SS24.3.1a, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.

PDF, US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white.

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