HARVEY ’ S MISSION
GET STARTED
AQUiLA
MAGAZINE
HOW LONG IS A PIECE OF STRING ?
TITANIC
In September ’ s Titanic issue of AQUILA magazine we discovered that the straight line route between two places may appear the shortest on a map BUT in our 3D world that is not necessarily true ! How can we check that this is actually a FACT ? Read on to find out !
HARVEY ’ S MISSION
Today we ’ re going to make a tennis ball globe using the net provided , and compare distances between places on the globe and on a flat 2D map .
GET STARTED
Step 1 :
Carefully cut out the image on page 2 , leaving the sections joined together .
Step 2 :
Wrap it around a tennis ball and stick the sections down to make a globe .
Step 3 :
Use a measuring tape ( or piece of string and a ruler ) to measure the shortest distance between two distant points on your globe . You might find that the shortest route crosses one of the poles !
ACTIVITY SKILLS
1 - 2 hours
DIFFICULTY
Step 4 :
Use a pen to draw this great circle route on the Mercator projection ( see page 3 ). This map is to the same scale as your globe .
Step 5 :
Finally , use a ruler and different coloured pen to draw a rhumb line – the apparent shortest route between the two points . Is it longer than the distance you measured on the globe ?
TAKING IT FURTHER
Try with more points to check for accuracy cy . Does the same rule apply when you measure e shorter distances
? Is there a point where the rhumb line and the great circle become the same
measurement ement ?
HARVEY WOULD LOVE TO HEAR ABOUT YOUR FINDINGS
Don ’ t forget to write to us via the AQUILAnauts ’ page of the AQUILA website , and we ’ ll share as many as we can .
www . aquila . co . uk / aquilanauts
If you ’ ve enjoyed this activity , follow this code to find out about subscribing to AQUILA today ! You can also download a whole back catalogue of Awesome Activities by signing g up to the AQUILA newsletter , here !
AWESOME
MAGAZINE ALERT !
SCAN ME ere ! o o o o o
o o
YOU WILL NEED :
Scissors Tennis ball Print out of the images provided Sticky tape
Measuring tape ( not a metal one ) or length of string
Pens
Ruler
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© AQUILA MAGAZINE . Written by Sarah Bearchell