Latitude and longitude game: a 30-minute 4th grade map skills activity
What it is: a 4th grade map skills game where partners hide "treasure" at a latitude and longitude on a world map and the other partner finds it from the coordinates. Students learn to read the global grid and to say north or south first, then east or west.
Time: about 30 minutes. Grade: 4th grade.
Materials: a world map with latitude and longitude lines every 15 or 20 degrees (one per pair), a list of 8 mystery cities with coordinates, sticky dots, and a folder to stand up as a screen.
- Show the equator and the prime meridian. Explain that latitude goes north and south, and longitude goes east and west.
- Model one city: "Start at 0, 0. Go up to 30 degrees north, then over to 30 degrees east." Find Cairo.
- Pairs locate the 8 mystery cities from the list and write each city's name.
- Pairs play hide and seek: one hides a dot behind the folder screen and reads its coordinates; the other finds it.
- Ask: "Why do we need both numbers? What happens if you only know the latitude?"
Differentiation: students who need support start with a map that shows only the lines every 30 degrees. Students who are ready estimate coordinates for places between the lines. English learners can use the words north, south, east, west and degrees.
Quick check: give a student coordinates and ask them to name the continent or ocean.
Need it for another grade or subject? Ask us on the request page and our team will write it.
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About this resource
- Shared by
- @UpOnlyLearning · Curriculum team
- Posted
- Oct 30, 2026
- Type
- Lesson plan
- Grade
- Grades 3–5
- Subject
- Social studies
- Language
- English
- License
- Free for classroom, co-op and tutoring use. Please don't resell.