PRACTICAL EXERCISES IX GEOGRAPHY 67 



])iil)ils' minds. In either case, the fact of turning demands an axis on 

 wliich the turning shall take place, and if the pupils have any serious 

 difficulty in discovering and stating the attitude of the axis the teacher 

 may be sure that the difficulty lies chiefly in the form of her ques- 

 tions, for the problem is essentiall}^ easy to living bo3^s and girls, how- 

 ever difficult it may seem when clothed in words to which they are 

 not accustomed. When the " slanting " attitude of the axis of turn- 

 ing is clearly recognized, all problems of size, latitude, and longitude 

 are greatly simplified. By whatever short-cut the teacher presents 

 the conclusion that the earth and not the sk}^ really turns, the axis 

 must be conceived as passing through the earth's center, and as de- 

 fining two significant points, the poles, where it "comes out." The 

 discover}^ of the north pole of the sky near the North star(reall3^ more 

 than two moon diameters from it toward the end of the Dipper 

 handle) leads to a clearer understanding of the diurnal paths of the 

 stars in smaller or larger circles. 



The shadow cast by a vertical pole on level ground by the midday 

 sun shows us the direction in which one must travel to reach the 

 North Pole. The prolongation of this line around the earth gives a 

 meridian circle. The meridians are standard lines of direction. The 

 equator is the great circle that cuts all the meridians in halves, mid- 

 way between the poles. A series of meridians drawn at equal dis- 

 tances apart at the equator divide the earth into equal areas, con- 

 veniently arranged for measuring the relative easting or westing of 

 places. A small hand globe may be appealed to in this connection, 

 but constant reference should be made to " outdoors " as a part of the 

 real earth on whose surface the imaginary circles are to be traced. 

 " There " on a hand globe is not so useful as " there," ])ointing out 

 the window toward the equator. The latter may arouse a live sense 

 of directions, always useful in self-orientation, whatever is one's path 

 in life; the former ma}^ leave the subject an unreality. 



Latitude. — The determination of local solar time and of magnetic 

 variation may be introduced in this connection, but more important 

 is the estimation of one's position on the earth's surface with respect 

 to the pole and equator. No mention of the term " latitude " need be 

 made till this question is solved. It may be solved even in the gram- 

 mar school ])y means of the sun-circle, marked out b}^ stake tops, as 

 above described. First, some general considerations. To an ob- 

 server at tlie pole the sun or the stars would travel around the sky 

 once a day, in circles i)arallcl to the horizon. Tlie i)ositii)n of tlie 



