Have you ever played the game “Battleship”? Well this version of the game is a fun way to learn how to speak the language of maps.
Before you play the game, however, it is important to understand the meaning of a few terms. The book, Maps and Globes, provides a lot of helpful information about speaking the language of maps in an easy-to-understand way for kids.
The following are a few key points from this book:
Latitudes:
- They tell how far north or south something is
- They are imaginary lines that run parallel to the equator
- They are measured in degrees
- The Equator is at 0°
Longitudes:
- They tell how far east or west something is
- They are imaginary lines that run vertically from the North Pole to the South Pole
- They are measured in degrees from the Prime Meridian – lines to the right of the Prime Meridian are “east” and lines to the left of the Prime Meridian are “west”
- The Prime Meridian is at 0°
- The International Date Line is opposite of the Prime Meridian and is the beginning point of a new day (the line is zigzagged because, by law, it cannot cross international boundaries)
A quick activity you can do to help kids understand how latitude and longitude lines are represented on a flat map is to get a piece of string and follow a longitude line halfway around a globe. Point out that this is a curved line. Then find the same longitude line on a flat map and lay the string on it to show that these lines represent the same longitude. Note that on a flat map, the longitude lines, as well as the latitude lines, are straight. The places that these lines intersect are called coordinates.
Instructions for the Battleship Game:
Give each student a Battleship board.
Click here for the free download.
Call out the coordinates listed below. If there is a ship on one of the coordinates called, it is a “hit.” If there is not a ship on one of the coordinates called, it is a “miss.” If a ship is hit, have the students color the dot that sits on the coordinate red. When all of the circles are colored in on a ship, the ship is sunk.
|
Latitude |
Longitude |
|
0° 0° 15°S 15°N 75°N 30°S 45°N 45°S 75°N 60°N 60°N 60°N 60°N 60°N |
0° 30°E 30°E 30°E 150°E 90°E 45°W 135°W 105°W 105°W 120°W 90°W 75°W 60°W |
Once the students have had some practice locating coordinates, they can play this additional version of the battleship game. For this version, give one student the Black Team Battleship Board and one student the Red Team Battleship Board. These free downloads are available here:
Each student needs both a red pen and a black pen. When it is the red team’s turn, have him/her guess a coordinate for where he/she thinks the other team will have a boat placed. During the Red Team’s turn, have BOTH players hold their red pen and BOTH players mark the coordinate called. Mark a hit with a dot and a miss with an X.
Next, have the Black Team guess a coordinate. This time, have BOTH players hold the black pen and BOTH players mark the coordinate called. Again, mark a hit with a dot and a miss with an X.
Students can continue this activity until all of the ships for one of the teams have been sunk.
