South Middle, Braintree -- November 7

 38°41'50" S 
176°06'16" E

The EarthView team usually uses the top of each blog post to report the geographic coordinates of the schools we visit. This week, we begin with a location that is very far from Braintree -- almost as far away as possible.

Consider how the coordinates above relate to these:


38°41'50" N 
  3°53'44" W

How could one use the principal lines of the globe -- equator, prime meridian, and International Date Line -- to calculate one of these pairs, based on the other?

Where are these places, relative to each other?

Search each pair at Google Maps to find out a bit more about each place. What language is spoken in each? Which one has a connection to South Middle's geographer extraordinaire, Mr. Henry?

These questions all relate to the geographic concept of antipodes, which are explained in some detail in Who Can Dig to China? on Environmental Geography, the college-level blog of EarthView team member Dr. Hayes-Bohanan.

We don't know where this humorous photo was taken. It would be accurate only in parts of Chile and Argentina. The antipode locations for most of China are in the southern Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.

For information about the coordinates of South Middle School -- and how they compare to those East Middle and other Massachusetts locations -- see the classroom exercise described in our East Middle School post from our Halloween visit to that neighboring school.