Spofford Pond School, Boxford -- March 17

42°41'46"N 

71°01'02"W
(Visit more about Lat/Long for ideas that combine math and geography learning. This is our second visit to Spofford Pond, and it remains the farthest north we have taken EarthView.) 

The EarthView team is always pleased to return to Spofford Pond School. Even though it is farther from our campus than most of the schools we visit, we always find it worth the journey, because the social studies classes at Spofford Pond include so much geography that we know we will find students who are eager for the EarthView experience.

Many of our previous Spofford Pond blog posts include information about the local geography of Boxford. Today's blog, though, will emphasize a few matters from farther afield. First is an event that occurred yesterday and that we mentioned during our Spofford Pond visit.

Yesterday, at 37°45' N, 15°00' E tourists were very surprised by an eruption of Mt. Etna, the most active volcano in Europe. Even though it is frequently active, prior movements usually allow the volcanologists to close the volcano to visitors prior to an eruption. Yesterday's eruption, however, was quite sudden, and injured some tourists and journalists who were on the volcano at the time.

The first satellite image was captured by Sentinel 2, part of the European Space Agency Copernicus program.

Learn more about the world's volcanoes from the SI Global Volcanism Program.

Information on every volcano

We also presented some challenges about latitude and longitude. If one circled the world at the same latitude (within a degree) of Spofford Pond, what three world capitals could you encounter? What if you circled half world at the same longitude? (Answers at the bottom of this article.)

HINT: For the first answer, two of the cities are in the exact same location; the other is the capital of a country whose name is also a U.S. state. 

For the second answer, the two cities are named for saints.

Lagniappe:

Happy St. Patrick's Day! In honor of the occasion, some Spofford Pond students were treated to a dad-level riddle by Dr. Hayes-Bohanan.

Q: Why is Ireland so wealthy?
A: It's capital is always Dublin. (Say it out loud.)


LAT/LONG Answers ... keep scrolling down
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Latitude: Vatican City, Rome, and Tbilisi
Longitude: Santo Domingo, Santiago