Cardinal directions or cardinal points 

It’s always very important to know where we are or where places are. The sun and the stars are precise reference points. Thanks to the astronomers of the past, we have now the four cardinal directions, north, south, east, west. In this way, we can orient ourselves. 

2. Look at the pictures (A-E) below. They show you different instruments and elements to find your way if you get lost. Some are connected to the past, some to the present. Match them with their definitions (1-5).

• 1. .......... When the sun sets or rises, we know where we are.
• 2. ..........  We use the stars to know our position.
• 3. .......... This service is called Google Maps. It gives you satellite photos, road maps and driving directions, so that you can leave a place and reach another one.
• 4. ..........  If you have a Global Positioning System, you can find your way from a place to another.
• 5. ..........  A compass shows your direction linked to the geographical cardinal points.

Time zones

When we study geography, we study the Earth. If we analyse it, on a map, we notice some imaginary lines, starting from the north going down to the south. The areas inside them are called time zones. Let’s discover them.

3. Read the text about the time zones we have and complete it with the words in the box.

360 imaginary lines divide the .......... we have in the world. They start from .......... and end in .......... . These imaginary lines are called Meridians. The Prime Meridian is in the UK.
It passes through .......... . This Meridian is very important because it divides the world into two .......... : the .......... and .......... ones.
When the Earth rotates on its .......... , the sun shines on a side of the planet. The one it is facing! So, it’s .......... on this side and it is .......... on the side it isn’t facing. We can understand that cities, towns, villages in the world haven’t got the same time. They have different times. In fact, there are  .......... time zones in the world, one for each hour we have in a day.