Reinforce lessons about longitude and latitude and the way to find the exact location of a place using a game similar to the board game Battleship. Split the class into small groups of two students and allow them some time to play the game using a pencil and paper. Let students know about the educational purpose of the game and help the students become familiar with the rules. Explain that they want to sink their opponent's ships first. Help them position their ships as strategically as they can so that the opposite team has a problem finding their location. The goal is to pinpoint the coordinates of their opponent's ships and sink them first, with the fewest possible moves. If you want to make it even more visual, move the desks to the side of the class and draw latitude and longitude lines on the floor using masking tape. Split the class into two large teams and allow them some time to play while you supervise. This activity will help fifth-graders familiarize themselves with using grids.
Have your students find their birthday coordinates. Ask them to use the month for latitude and the day they were born for longitude. For example, if a student's birthday is on the 15th of October, his coordinates will be 10 degrees north, 15 degrees east. Let the students locate their birthday coordinates on the map. This activity will ensure that all students will want to get more involved, as it will make latitude and longitude more personal and fun. Ask them to imagine planning their birthday party on the location that their birthday coordinates indicate.
Use a globe to show your students how the Earth is split from east to west and from north to south. Place a line of colored tape around the globe horizontally to demonstrate the equator and another line of tape of a different color to demonstrate the prime meridian. Pass it around the class and allow students some time to have a look at it. Show them the globe's other latitude and longitude lines and explain how locations can be specified. Divide the class into teams of two students each and assign them the task of locating four cities. This will give the students practical geographic knowledge and provide targeted a targeted lesson for visual learners.
Have your fifth-graders create a map of an imaginary place. This can be anything, from Narnia and Atlantis to something the kids come up with. Ask them to use latitude and longitude lines to make locating places on their map possible. Tell them to exchange maps with their classmates and have their friends establish the coordinates of the main locations on their maps. This activity lets students take what they've learned about latitude and longitude and apply it in a way that's all their own.