Transcript The Story of Longitude The Greatest Intellectual Puzzle of the 16th and 17th Centuries.

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
Trackstar
www.4teachers.org
A website custom made for your class
Solves the “Search” problem
Protects students & teachers
Focuses student efforts
Organizes student work
Allows student research at home