Latitude and longitude are basic geographical terms needed to find positioning on a globe or map. As a teacher or a parent helping out with homework, these tips will help you teach latitude and longitude.

Begin by teaching the concept. Kids will need a general understanding of what the two terms actually mean. A simple way to begin is to teach that latitude is the "north and south" of a place, and longitude is the "east and west". A good way to help the students remember the difference between the two terms is to try to create a statement they can remember like "Longitude speaks of the long position or length going from side to side. If this is easy to remember then, they'll have no trouble to remember that latitude just refers to the other direction.

Use a large wall map. You are going to require a big map to show the ideas of latitude and longitude. A big map or even a globe will work as well. Have two or three cities to talk about show students how you would find the latitude and longitude of each location. For example, "when I look at Venezuela, I see that it is positioned at "X" for its north/south or latitude and "Y" for its longitude or east and west. Don't explain how you found the position just yet. Just demonstrate this then allow the kids to figure out what you're doing themselves for the first few examples.

Show the position of the equator. Now that the kids understand what you mean by latitude and longitude and have seen some examples, you can help determine latitude and longitude by themselves. Begin by teaching about the equator. How do you know the center of the map? - by the equator of course. Show "north" above the line and anything below the line is considered "south". The equator helps to find the latitude of a location. Talk about the concepts of the prime meridian. The prime meridian helps to determine the longitude of a location. Anything left of the prime meridian is considered "west" and anything to the right is known as "east".

Point out the degrees or lines on the map. When the students know how to find the equator and the prime meridian, all you need to teach is how to determine the latitude and longitude of a location and the degrees on a map. You will see that the map is divided into tiny squares and each of those is referred to by a different degree. See if they can figure how close a city is to a certain line or degree - they must not quibble between two degrees - then they will be able to determine the longitude and latitude of the city.

Go through some examples. After getting a few basics of latitude and longitude, students should be able to work through some exercises with you. Select some places, write the names on the chart, and have the class figure out the latitude and longitude of the location.

Tiffany Provost writes about study atlas and education for www.HowToDoThings.com.