Chapter-Locating Places on the Earth Social Science class 6 in english Medium CBSE Notes

Chapter 1. Locating Places on the Earth

This chapter explains how maps and globes help us locate places on the Earth. It also introduces coordinates, latitudes, longitudes, hemispheres, local time, standard time, time zones and the International Date Line.

Chapter Review

Introduction

• A map is a representation or drawing of an area of the Earth's surface viewed from above.
• Maps can represent a small area such as a village or town, a larger area such as a district or state, or a very large area such as India or the whole world.
• An atlas is a book or collection of maps.
• Physical maps mainly show natural features such as mountains, oceans and rivers.
• Political maps show countries, states, boundaries, cities and other political features.
• Thematic maps show a particular type of information about an area.
• The three important components of a map are distance, direction and symbols.
• Scale helps represent a large area on a small piece of paper by showing the relationship between map distance and actual ground distance.
• Cardinal directions are north, east, south and west.
• The intermediate directions are northeast, southeast, southwest and northwest.
• Symbols are used to represent different natural and human-made features on maps.
• The Survey of India has fixed a set of symbols for maps of India and parts of India.
• The Earth is nearly spherical and is slightly flattened at the poles.
• A globe is a spherical model on which a map of the Earth or another celestial body can be represented.
• A globe represents the Earth's spherical shape better than a flat map.
• A system of coordinates helps us determine the precise location of a place.
• Latitude and longitude together form the two coordinates of a place.
• Latitude measures the distance of a place north or south of the Equator.
• Parallels of latitude are imaginary circles that run east-west and are parallel to the Equator.
• The Equator is the largest parallel of latitude and represents 0° latitude.
• The latitude of the North Pole is 90°N and that of the South Pole is 90°S.
• Parallels of latitude become smaller as they move towards the North or South Pole.
• Latitude is related to climate; areas near the Equator are generally hot, while areas near the poles are much colder.
• Meridians of longitude are imaginary half-circles running from the North Pole to the South Pole.
• Longitude measures the distance of a place east or west of the Prime Meridian.
• The Prime Meridian is the 0° longitude and is also called the Greenwich Meridian.
• The Prime Meridian passes through Greenwich in London, England.
• Longitudes are measured eastward or westward from 0° to 180°.
• 180°E and 180°W represent the same longitude.
• Latitude and longitude together can be used to locate any place precisely on Earth.
• Parallels of latitude and meridians of longitude together form a grid of imaginary lines on the globe.
• The Equator divides the Earth into the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.
• The Prime Meridian divides the Earth into the Eastern and Western Hemispheres.
• Ancient Indian astronomers were familiar with latitude, longitude and the idea of a prime meridian.
• Ujjayini, present-day Ujjain, was an important centre of astronomy in ancient India.
• The Ujjayini meridian was called madhya rekhā or the “middle line”.
• The Ujjayini meridian was used as a reference for calculations in ancient Indian astronomical texts.
• Varāhamihira, a famous astronomer, lived and worked at Ujjayini about 1,500 years ago.
• India extends approximately from 8°N to 37°N latitudes and from 68°E to 97°E longitudes.
• The Earth rotates from west to east and completes one full rotation in 24 hours.
• A complete rotation of the Earth is 360°, so the Earth rotates through 15° of longitude in one hour.
• Local time changes with longitude.
• When we move eastward, local time becomes later.
• When we move westward, local time becomes earlier.
• At every 15° of longitude, there is approximately a one-hour difference in local time.
• If it is noon at the Prime Meridian, the local time is 1 pm at 15°E and 11 am at 15°W.
• Using local time separately for every place would be inconvenient for a country.
• Countries therefore adopt a standard time based on a selected meridian.
• India follows Indian Standard Time (IST).
• Indian Standard Time is 5 hours 30 minutes ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).
• Standard times are organised into time zones.
• Time zones broadly follow zones of 15° longitude.
• Time-zone boundaries are not always straight because they often follow international borders.
• Large countries may have several time zones.
• The USA has six time zones, while Russia has eleven time zones.
• The International Date Line lies approximately at 180° longitude, opposite the Prime Meridian.
• Crossing the International Date Line changes the date by one day.
• When the International Date Line is crossed eastward, one day is subtracted.
• When it is crossed westward, one day is added.
• The International Date Line is not exactly straight because it deviates in some places to avoid dividing countries into two different dates.

Important Definitions

Important Terms

• Map
• Atlas
• Physical Map
• Political Map
• Thematic Map
• Scale
• Distance
• Direction
• Symbols
• Globe
• Coordinates
• Latitude
• Parallel of Latitude
• Equator
• Longitude
• Meridian
• Prime Meridian
• Greenwich Meridian
• Hemisphere
• Northern Hemisphere
• Southern Hemisphere
• Eastern Hemisphere
• Western Hemisphere
• Local Time
• Standard Time
• Time Zone
• Indian Standard Time (IST)
• Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)
• International Date Line
• Grid Lines
• Cardinal Directions
• Intermediate Directions
• madhya rekhā

Important Points

• The three main components of a map are distance, direction and symbols.
• The four cardinal directions are North, East, South and West.
• The four intermediate directions are Northeast, Southeast, Southwest and Northwest.
• A map may represent a village, town, district, state, country or the whole world.
• A physical map shows natural features.
• A political map shows political features such as countries, states and boundaries.
• A thematic map provides information about a particular theme.
• Scale makes it possible to represent a large area on a small map.
• For example, a scale of 1 cm = 500 m means that 1 cm on the map represents 500 m on the ground.
• Symbols allow many features to be represented in the limited space available on a map.
• The Survey of India has fixed a set of symbols for maps of India and parts of India.
• The Earth is nearly spherical and slightly flattened at the poles.
• A globe represents the spherical shape of the Earth better than a flat map.
• Coordinates are used to locate places precisely.
• Latitude is measured north or south of the Equator.
• Longitude is measured east or west of the Prime Meridian.
• The Equator is the longest parallel of latitude and is marked 0°.
• The North Pole is at 90°N and the South Pole is at 90°S.
• Parallels of latitude become smaller towards the poles.
• All meridians of longitude are half-circles extending from one pole to the other.
• The Prime Meridian is marked 0° longitude.
• Longitudes increase from 0° to 180° towards both east and west.
• 180°E and 180°W represent the same longitude.
• Latitude and longitude together form the coordinates of a place.
• The Equator divides the Earth into the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.
• The Prime Meridian divides the Earth into the Eastern and Western Hemispheres.
• The grid of latitudes and longitudes helps locate places accurately on Earth.
• Ancient Indian astronomers understood the concepts of latitude and longitude.
• The Ujjayini meridian, or madhya rekhā, was used as a reference in ancient Indian astronomy.
• India extends approximately from 8°N to 37°N latitudes.
• India extends approximately from 68°E to 97°E longitudes.
• The Earth completes one rotation through 360° in 24 hours.
• 15° of longitude corresponds approximately to 1 hour of time difference.
• Moving eastward increases local time.
• Moving westward decreases local time.
• India follows a single standard time known as Indian Standard Time (IST).
• IST is 5 hours 30 minutes ahead of GMT.
• Time zones broadly follow 15° zones of longitude.
• Time-zone boundaries may bend and follow international borders.
• The USA has six time zones and Russia has eleven time zones.
• The International Date Line lies approximately at 180° longitude.
• Crossing the International Date Line changes the date by one day.
• When crossing the International Date Line eastward, one day is subtracted.
• When crossing it westward, one day is added.

5-Minute Revision

• ✔ Map = Representation of an area of the Earth's surface.
• ✔ Atlas = Book or collection of maps.
• ✔ Main components of a map = Distance + Direction + Symbols.
• ✔ Main types of maps = Physical + Political + Thematic.
• ✔ Globe = Spherical model of the Earth.
• ✔ Coordinates = Latitude + Longitude.
• ✔ Equator = 0° latitude.
• ✔ North Pole = 90°N.
• ✔ South Pole = 90°S.
• ✔ Prime Meridian = 0° longitude.
• ✔ Latitude = Distance north or south of the Equator.
• ✔ Longitude = Distance east or west of the Prime Meridian.
• ✔ Equator → Northern + Southern Hemispheres.
• ✔ Prime Meridian → Eastern + Western Hemispheres.
• ✔ Latitude + Longitude → Exact location of a place.
• ✔ 15° longitude ≈ 1 hour time difference.
• ✔ East → Local time becomes later.
• ✔ West → Local time becomes earlier.
• ✔ IST = GMT + 5 hours 30 minutes.
• ✔ International Date Line ≈ 180° longitude.
• ✔ Crossing the International Date Line → Date changes by one day.

Exam Booster

• Learn the three main components of a map: distance, direction and symbols.
• Understand the difference between physical, political and thematic maps.
• Understand how scale is used to calculate actual distance from map distance.
• Remember all four cardinal and four intermediate directions.
• Know why symbols are necessary on maps.
• Understand why a globe represents the Earth more naturally than a flat map.
• Remember that latitude and longitude are the two coordinates of a place.
• Learn the difference between a parallel of latitude and a meridian of longitude.
• Remember the values of the Equator, North Pole, South Pole and Prime Meridian.
• Understand how the Equator and Prime Meridian divide the Earth into four hemispheres.
• Remember India's approximate latitudinal and longitudinal extent.
• Know the importance of the ancient Ujjayini meridian in Indian astronomy.
• Understand the relationship between longitude and local time.
• Remember the key relationship: 15° longitude = approximately 1 hour.
• Remember that local time becomes later towards the east and earlier towards the west.
• Understand the difference between local time and standard time.
• Remember that India's standard time is IST = GMT + 5:30.
• Understand why large countries may have multiple time zones.
• Remember the approximate location of the International Date Line.
• Understand why crossing the International Date Line changes the date by one day.
• For numerical questions, carefully use the relationship between longitude and time.

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