🌍 McGraw-Hill Networks Teacher's Edition • W2D2 (Page 29)
🏠 Portal ◀ Day 1 TG (p.28) 📖 Student Edition
📄 Teacher's PDF
Hemispheres Teacher Key
Hemispheres of Earth Diagram
🌐 Northern Hemisphere North of the Equator. Contains North America, Europe, Asia, and North Pole.
🌐 Southern Hemisphere South of the Equator. Contains South America, Australia, and Antarctica.
🧭 Western Hemisphere West of the Prime Meridian. Contains North America and South America.
🧭 Eastern Hemisphere East of the Prime Meridian. Contains Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia.
🎓 Teacher's Pedagogical Guide • Chapter 2, Lesson 1 Classroom Facilitation
V Visual Skills: Analyzing Globes

Allow pairs or small groups time to study the image on the page. Then have them study a globe. Ask them to locate both the Equator and the Prime Meridian on the globe.

  • Ask: Which continents does the Equator pass through?
    👉 (South America, Africa, and Asia)
  • Ask: What are some countries that the Equator passes through?
    👉 (Answers may include South America: Ecuador, Colombia, and Brazil; Africa: Uganda, Kenya, and Somalia; Asia: Indonesia)
  • Ask: Which continents does the Prime Meridian pass through?
    👉 (Europe, Africa, and Antarctica)
  • Ask: What are some countries that the Prime Meridian passes through?
    👉 (Answers may include Europe: U.K., France, and Spain; Africa: Algeria, Mali, and Ghana.) Visual/Spatial
  • Prompt: Can students identify the country that takes its name from its location on either the Equator or the Prime Meridian?
    👉 (Ecuador) BL Verbal/Linguistic
29-A Teacher's Edition • Lesson 1 Facilitation

Hemispheres

To find a place on the Earth, geographers use a system of imaginary lines that crisscross the globe. The Equator (ih·KWAY·tuhr) is one of these lines. It circles the middle of the Earth like a belt. It divides the Earth into “half spheres,” or hemispheres (HEH·muh·sfihrz). Everything north of the Equator is in the Northern Hemisphere. Everything south of the Equator is in the Southern Hemisphere. In which of these hemispheres do you live?

Another imaginary line divides the Earth into Eastern and Western Hemispheres. This line is called the Prime Meridian. Generally, the area east of the Prime Meridian is in the Eastern Hemisphere. Everything west of the Prime Meridian is in the Western Hemisphere.

📍 Geographer's Inquiry (Caption Question, p. 29)

Dividing the Earth into hemispheres helps geographers locate places on the planet’s surface. Which oceans are located in the Western Hemisphere? Which oceans are located in the Eastern Hemisphere?

✅ OFFICIAL ANSWER (p. 29 Caption)

Caption Answer: The Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean are in the Western Hemisphere. The Indian Ocean is in the Eastern Hemisphere.

R Reading Skills: Finding the Main Idea

After reading “Hemispheres,” ask:

  • Why do geographers use imaginary lines when studying Earth's surface?
    👉 (So they can precisely identify regions and specific locations on Earth.)
  • What is the significance of the Equator and the Prime Meridian?
    👉 (They divide Earth into hemispheres.) AL ELL
📚 Reading HELPDESK • Content Vocabulary
Content Vocabulary
• special-purpose map
• choropleth
• scale
• migration
• cardinal directions
• culture
hemisphere 🔊

noun — a “half sphere,” used to refer to one-half of the globe when divided into North and South or East and West.

Ready