I’m with you kid! I hated this part of Social Studies, but later you’ll appreciate knowing these things or at least where to find them when you need to know.

When you look at a map you will see line going from the top to the bottom. These are lines of longitude (Remember long). They are also called meridians.

The major line to remember is the Prime (or major) Meridian

The Prime Meridian is located in Greenwich England because that was the place of a major observatory. Any line of longitude to the left or west of the Prime Meridian is called west longitude. Any line to the right of the Prime Meridian is called east longitude.

There are also lines on a map going from the left to the right. These lines are lines of latitude. The major line of latitude to remember is the equator which is in the middle between the North and South poles. The equator is 0 Degrees. Any line that is above the equator and parallel to it is north latitude. Any line that is below the equator and parallel to it is south latitude.

You should take a world map that shows longitude and latitude or a globe and look at it while studying the above.

Good luck.

Hope that helps!

A Map has a compass. N S W E. haha.