Latitude and Longitude Activity

'Crack the Code' from National Geographic1 Your Mission Catch the jewel thieves! You must crack the code left by the thieves. This code tells you where they will be hiding out. The Case Crafty tomb robbers have broken into King Tut’s tomb in Egypt and have stolen loads of precious (and very expensive) jewels. Finding them would be hopeless - basically impossible - because the thieves are long gone and seem to have left no trace. Then you notice that the robbers accidentally left you a clue - they dropped a scrap of paper with some odd scribbles on it.

At the top is a rhyme that seems to be an instruction from the thieves' boss telling them where to meet him after stealing the jewels: First letters from each place-name read. Spell out the town and come with speed.

You think about the note for a while... but the note doesn't mention any places! How can you figure out the first letters if you don't know the places? You read the note again and look at the scribbles under the message. All you see are weird combinations of letters and numbers. Luckily, a sharp-eyed geographer peers over your shoulder and says, "Coordinates. How fascinating!" She refreshes your memory on latitude and longitude: those imaginary lines around the world that help us locate places. “You know, like the Equator and the prime meridian.”

You look at the scribble again and it all starts to make sense. But, you realize that the numbers are the coordinates for cities all over the planet. You better get started figuring them out... time is running out! The Message First letters from each place-name read. Spell out the town and come with speed. 40° 58’ N 5° 39’ W 9 21° 18’ N 157° 51’ W 8 36° 52’ S 174° 46’ E 8 1° 17’ S 36° 49’ E 7 6° 48’ N 58° 10’ W 10 21° 2’ N 105° 51’ E 5 16° 51’ N 99° 55’ W 8 41° 1’ N 28° 58’ E 8 The Task Figure out the city names using the interactive maps open on the computer. Clicking on any part of the map will enlarge that area giving you more detail. When you get to the right location, if there is more than one city around a coordinate, look for larger cities (bigger dots and type). Also, look at the length of the city name. The note gave you this number as well. Fill in the chart below.

LATITUDE LONGITUDE LETTERS CITY NAME 40° 58’ N 5° 39’ W 9 21° 18’ N 157° 51’ W 8 36° 52’ S 174° 46’ E 8 1° 17’ S 36° 49’ E 7 6° 48’ N 58° 10’ W 10 21° 2’ N 105° 51’ E 5 16° 51’ N 99° 55’ W 8 41° 1’ N 28° 58’ E 8 Now, circle the FIRST letter of each city above. Going from top to bottom, write down each first letter. You should end up with a name of one more city. When you think you have the city, check with the head detective (your teacher) to see if you have the right city.

The robbers are in:

Catch the Robbers and their Boss Now that you have the right city, you must figure out where the city is located and get there QUICK. Do you know what country it is in? What are its coordinates? Use other research tools (an atlas, the internet, your text book) to find out where this city is. Then, write its coordinates below.

Coordinates:

References: 1. http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/activities/01/crackcode.html