Locating Places on the Earth | Social Science Grade 6 CBSE

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The grid in six terms

Finding a place on the Earth has its own vocabulary. Tap each term to see what it means and how the ideas — the globe, the equator, latitudes, longitudes, coordinates and time zones — fit together into one tidy address system.

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The three big ideas

A globe is a small model of the Earth. Unlike a flat map, it keeps the true shape, size and direction of land and sea, because the real Earth is round — a sphere that is slightly flattened at the poles.
The axis is an imaginary line passing through the Earth from the North Pole to the South Pole. The Earth spins on this axis once a day, which is why we have day and night.
The equator is the imaginary circle around the middle of the Earth, exactly halfway between the two poles. It is the most important reference line.
The equator divides the Earth into two halves called hemispheres — the Northern Hemisphere (where India lies) and the Southern Hemisphere.
The Sun’s rays fall most directly near the equator all year, so the lands there are hot; near the poles the rays are slanting, so those lands are cold.

Common mistake: thinking the axis and the equator are the same. The axis runs top-to-bottom (pole to pole) and the Earth turns around it; the equator goes side-to-side around the middle.

Latitudes (parallels) run east–west, parallel to the equator. They are measured in degrees north or south of the equator, from 0° at the equator to 90° at each pole.
Four latitudes have special names: the Tropic of Cancer (23.5° N), which crosses central India; the Tropic of Capricorn (23.5° S); the Arctic Circle (66.5° N); and the Antarctic Circle (66.5° S).
Longitudes (meridians) run north–south, joining the two poles. They are measured east or west of the Prime Meridian (0°), up to 180°.
The Prime Meridian passes through Greenwich, near London. Unlike parallels, all meridians are the same length and meet at the poles.
Together these two sets of lines form a grid over the whole globe — a ready-made address for every place.

Worked example. Latitudes are "parallel" but longitudes are not — why?

Each latitude is a separate ring that stays the same distance from the equator, so the rings never touch — they are parallel. Every longitude, however, runs from the North Pole to the South Pole, so they all crowd together and meet at both poles. That is why longitude lines look spread out at the equator but pinched at the top and bottom of a globe.

Coordinates are the pair of numbers — a latitude and a longitude — that name the exact spot where two lines cross. We always give the latitude first, then the longitude.
One number alone is not enough: a single latitude is a whole circle of places, and a single longitude is another. Only where they cross do they fix one point.
Time zones come from longitude. Because the Earth turns from west to east, the Sun rises earlier in eastern places. So local time gets later as you travel east.
India is wide from east to west, but to avoid confusion it keeps a single clock — Indian Standard Time (IST) — set by the meridian at about 82.5° E, which passes near Mirzapur.

Worked example. Why does the Sun rise in Arunachal Pradesh (east) earlier than in Gujarat (west)?

The Earth spins eastward, so eastern lands turn to face the Sun first. Arunachal Pradesh in the far east greets the dawn well before Gujarat in the west — yet both clocks read the same because the whole of India uses one standard time, IST.

Common mistake: confusing latitude and longitude. Remember: latitude tells you how far north or south (it changes the climate); longitude tells you how far east or west (it changes the time).

Where you'll meet it

The grid at work

Maps on your phone

When a navigation app shows a blue dot for "you are here", it has worked out your latitude and longitude from satellites overhead. The same pair of coordinates lets a delivery rider in Pune or a fisher off the Kerala coast share an exact location.

Flights and rescue at sea

Pilots and ship captains report their position as a latitude and a longitude, so air-traffic and coast-guard teams know precisely where every aircraft and vessel is — vital when a boat in trouble must be found quickly in a vast, featureless ocean.

One clock for a whole country

Trains, TV news and school timetables across India all run on IST. Because the country chose a single standard time from one meridian, a train from Chennai to Delhi keeps one timetable instead of changing its clock with every degree of longitude.

Check yourself

Competency quiz

Modelled on the competency-based pattern — MCQ, assertion–reason and a case study, testing whether you can use the ideas, not just recall them.

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