<< episode

Teacher Edition | View the Map

Week of March 17, 2024

Right click and SAVE AS
to download the Google Earth file for this episode

Use free Google Earth software
to OPEN it, using File> Open.

Find more tech info here.


Wednesday

LATE Monday night, we arrived in Seattle (nicknamed the "Emerald City") and in the Pacific Time zone. I wonder why it is called the "Emerald City"? We are 3 hours behind New York City. It was really cool because it seemed like we arrived in Seattle not long after we left New York City. It took us a while to find our bags and get to our hotel, so most of Tuesday was spent sleeping. Holy Idaho! We were exhausted. Funny how sitting on a plane can make you so tired.


Seattle is located in northwestern USA. So those of you who guessed that answer last week were correct! The weather here is a bit cooler than New York City, but only a few degrees. Today it was raining pretty consistently. Most days the rain doesn't last all day. Geo and I researched the weather for Seattle: 50% of the days have some rain. Holy Idaho! Can you imagine raining every other day? According to our research, the rainfall is the greatest from October through May. The summers are surprisingly dry and comfortable. Glad we brought our umbrellas!


Seattle has a temperate climate, sometimes described as marine west coast. The winters are mild and damp. The summers are relatively dry and also mild. Did you know that Seattle is located in the Ring of Fire? (See the link we posted below to learn more about the Ring of Fire.) Seattle is located in a major earthquake zone. Back in 2001, they had a high magnitude earthquake that did A LOT of damage.


Did you know that Seattle is the northernmost city on the west coast of the United States? It is actually a seaport that is located on an isthmus. Do you remember what an isthmus is? It is a narrow strip of land that has water on both sides. An isthmus connects two larger land areas. So I guess it is a skinny piece of land with water on two sides and land on the two ends. What other isthmus did we visit?


The total area of the city of Seattle is 142.5 square miles. Over 58 square miles of this area is water (41%). This means that nearly HALF of the city is water! Holy Idaho! Some people actually live on houseboats docked on the water.

     - Meri


The city of Seattle!


A draw bridge in Seattle, for the ship and/or ferry to get through.

 

Map of Ring of Fire
Check out this neat map of the Ring of Fire.

 

Ring of Fire
Do you want to learn more about the Ring of Fire? This site offers printable pages, information, pictures, and outline maps.


Wednesday Night

Meri was so excited about visiting Seattle that she forgot to tell you what we now know about Louie. Do you know why Meri is SO excited? Because she loves her coffee and Seattle is where some of her favorite coffee companies were founded. She has been drinking (and enjoying) lots of coffee. One of her favorite TV shows also is filmed in Seattle. And the show has a photo of the Seattle Space Needle in the opening credits. So we are headed to visit the Space Needle tomorrow.


Now back to Louie. Uncle GT is still here with us, and we have received several more confusing text messages on our cell. The past few said "who R U?" "why R U in Seattle?" "Who do I work 4?," and "I am scared." Uncle GT is wondering if someone else is sending the texts because they are trying to find out more about Louie, or if someone even abducted Louie? Maybe someone stole his cell phone? Or maybe somehow Louie is alone and hurt himself and lost his memory? This is so confusing. So for now, Uncle GT is staying with us. We know that Louie is still in Seattle, because the hotel will connect us to his room. They won't tell us his room number, though (for security reasons). So we have spent a lot of time in the hotel lobby "people watching"-- or should we call it "Louie watching"? So although we haven't found him, we are close since we are staying at the same hotel.

     - Geo


Seattle during the day


Seattle at night


Thursday

Holy Idaho! We spent a total of SEVEN hours in the lobby yesterday and still didn't see Louie. This is so frustrating! Today we went to see the Space Needle (see my picture below). We actually got to go up in the needle and look at the city; it was amazing. I have also included a map of Seattle. Can you find the Space Needle? What cardinal direction is Seattle Center from the Space Needle? Go to the map and check it out!


Pandora to us: U 2 still on the east coast? J2lyk - I know u r in NYC. I wont tell- mlas.

Us to Pandora: Yes, we were in NYC. Now we traveled NW. Cul8r

     - Meri


The space needle before sunset.


The space needle at night. Isn't it beautiful?

 

Maps of Seattle
Take a look at all of these Seattle maps. What cardinal direction is Seattle Center from the Space Needle?


Vocabulary Terms:

cardinal direction - a term used to describe all four primary directions (north, south, east and west).

earthquake - shaking and vibration on the surface of the earth. An earthquake can be a result of underground movement along a fault plane or from volcanic activity.

hybrid map - a map that combines satellite images taken of the earth from space with lines for roads and markings and names of landmarks.

isthmus - a narrow strip of land that connects two larger bodies of land.

Marine west coast - the climate typically found along the west coasts at the middle latitudes of all the world's continents, and in southeastern Australia. These areas have somewhat cool summers and comparatively cool winters.

ring of fire - a circle that encompasses the Pacific Ocean. In that circle, many volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur. There are over 450 volcanoes in the ring of fire. Sometimes even tsunamis occur in the ring of fire.

seaport - a port town or harbor that has facilities for ships coming from or going out to the sea.

temperate - a climate that provides warm summers and mild winters. The temperatures do not typically get extremely hot or cold.

Back to top

Standards for this episode:

Understands the characteristics and uses of maps, globes, and other geographical tools and technologies.

Grade 3-5: Knows the basic elements of maps and globes (title, legend, cardinal, scale, grid, meridians, time zones, etc.).

Grade 6-8: Understands concepts such as axis, seasons, rotation, and revolution.

Knows the location of places, geographical features, and patterns of the environment.

Grade 3-5: Knows major physical and human features of places as they are represented on maps and globes. Knows how to read different maps: road, relief, globe, etc..

Grade 3-5: Knows the location of major cities in North America.

Grade 6-8: Knows the location of physical and human features on maps and globes (e.g., culture hearths such as Mesopotamia, Huang Ho, the Yucatan Peninsula, the Nile Valley; major ocean currents; wind patterns; land forms; climate regions).

Understands the concept of regions.

Grade 3-5: Knows the characteristics of a variety of regions (climate, housing, religion, language, etc..).

Grade 6-8: Understands criteria that give a region identity (such as Amsterdam as a transportation center or the Sunbelt's warm climate and popularity with retired people).

Understands that culture and experience influence people's perceptions of places and regions.

Grade 6-8: Knows how places and regions serve as cultural symbols (Opera House in Sydney or Tower Bridge in London).

Knows the physical processes that shape patterns on Earth's surfaces.

Grade 3-5: Knows the physical components of Earth's atmosphere (weather and climate), lithosphere (land forms such as mountains), hydrosphere (oceans, lakes and rivers), and biosphere (vegetation and biomes).

Understands the forces of cooperation and conflict that shape the divisions of Earth's surface.

Grade 3-5: Knows how and why people divide Earth's surface into political and/or economic units (e.g., states in the United States and Mexico; provinces in Canada; countries in North and South America; countries linked in cooperative relationships, such as the European Union).

Understands how physical systems affect human systems.

Grade 3-5: Knows natural hazards that occur in the physical environment (floods, tornadoes, earthquakes, etc..).

Back to top