ywhere neridia® tanc g standard time. nal Date Line. Introduction In this topic, you will define the term ‘ime zones’. You will learn why time zones were created and calculate time for different countries. Further, you will also explain the importance of using standard time and the importance of the International Date Line. TIME ZONES Terminologies Time zone: A time zone refers to a region or a specifically demarcated area within which time is unified so that all places within it have the same time. Local time: This is the time that '8 set based on the location of Places within a given longitude which are bound to experienc same time and the sun is directly overhead at one of the places, For example, Zomba, Rumphi, Dowa, Ntcheu, Nsanje and Chitipa will experience the same local time because the sun is directly at one of these places such as Rumphi Standard time: This is described as the time in any of the 24 time zones into which the earth is divided, It is usually the mean time or official local time of a particular country or region at the central meridian of the given zone. International Date Line: This is a line of longitude that separates one day from the next and it is located at longitude 180°, It appears to separate Asia (Siberia) from North America (Alaska). Geography EAEIn groups of five, discuss and come up with answers for the fol 1. What are some of the ways that people in the past used to tel the time What do you think ena’ them to schedule the various activities that done throughout the day? Suggest some of the reasons that necessi d the transition from tellin traditional ways to usi zones, 4. Note the time on your watch or clock. if you made a call to someon States of America, do you think their time would be the same a. indicated on your watch? Why or wh: Present your findings to the rest of the class Oe a ae vitae In the past, the methods used to tell time were jot accurate and most time people would estimate the time using the sun, the length of their shad ‘or the cock crows. With time, they began using hour glasses where sand wou! be placed into a glass that was divided into two round goblets, The sand wou take roughly an hour to trickle from one portion of glass into the next through thin passage. Later on, pendulum clocks that were more accurate than the exile methods were used to tell the time. Over time, much of the activity around the world led to the need to come v with a synchronised worldwide system of keeping time, Sir Sanford Flemiti advocated for the adoption of a standard or mean time and hourly vara from that in accordance with established time zones, The International Meridian Conference Proposal in October 1884 which established the Greenwich Meridian as the pri meridian and the Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) as the world's time stand! The international 24-hour time-zone system grew from this concept. The 1” Major factors favouring Greenwich as the site of the prime meridian were * Britain had more shipping activities and ships that were using the Green"? Meridian than the rest of the world put together during the time. * The Greenwich Observatory was Producing data that had proved to beo!™ highest quality for a long time. at Washington DC, USA, adopted? phy wyCo ok ] 4234667 m 8 9 0 1 18 14 18 16 47 18 19 20 21 22 2 24) st of the Fig. 1.2.1: Time zones of the world shadows nd would through? In groups of five, carry out the following activity: ier the ear! 1, Let each student pick the name of a district in Malawi. The five districts should all be neigbouring each other. oe Let each student have a different time, such that you will all have five different q Flem ‘operating systems for time. The first student should pick 2.00 o’clock and the rest yariati’ the subsequent hours (3pm, 4pm, 5pm, 6pm and 7pm) is, % You should all agree to meet at one point by a certain time. So the first student e dont? ee should let everyone in the group know that you will all meet at Spm at point X. g the a ;¢ * Doyou think the five of you will actually meet at the appointed time and place? 2 stand, Why or why not? The 5. Come up wit at, TH up with reasons for your answers and give suggestic ily Be serene give suggestions what you should on ee Lee hf tb? 4AL r jour for ¢ OTN ety Cm ay LL RCA at é The following were some of the reasons why it was necessary to create time Oa gay ig zones: * To bring to an end the confusion of having to deal with thousands of loc times. For instance, each town and railway station would have its own loc time which ended up confusing and frustrating the commuters, In additi¢ train collisions were common mainly because each town had its own lo¢ time that was different from the next town and thus accidents would oc WEST due to the time difference + There was need for more efficient rail transportation which demanded more uniform time-keeping system Eventually, people had to have an agreement on what would be workable fot everyone. In the standard time system, the globe would be divided into 24 time zones, All the inhabitants within a zone were to keep time according to the istandard meridian that passed through their zone. Since meridians are usually f 15° apart, the difference between adjacent zones would now be one hour, Th is because the earth completes one full rotation (360°) in twenty four hou one day. Fig. 1.2.2 Example 1 ALO ivsa sum pot at 4:00am, | Ie have learnt about the reasons why there was need for the creation of time Working: Zones. We will now learn how to calculate time for different places and countr Since the earth makes one complete rotation of 360° in 24 hours or one day, i Passes through 15° in one hour or 1° in * 360 degrees in 24 hours + 15 degrees in 1 hour + I degree in 4 minutes 4 minutes. This is outlined below We, ‘The earth rotates from west to east a advanced by 1 hour. 80 every 15° we go eastwards, local time ® Conversely, if we go westwards, local time is reduced by 1 hour Thus ¥ conclude that places to the east of the Greenwich Meridian experience the 3" earlier and gain time, whereas places to the west of the Greenwich Meridi" experience the sun later and lose time. When calculating time, all areas 10! west have their time lagging behind meaning that time is subtracted that ‘| BB om cs mayditionally, there is a difference of ° West and 180° East, meaning that Greenwich Meridian our for every 15 degrees of longitudes. A Ate time 24 hours (1 day) between the longitudes 18 ‘one day is subtracted when one goes to the west o ©f loca, WN local Addition Wn local Id occur WEST anded a kable for > 24 time 1g to the 5 e usually — Bat RS jour. This (ayy hours or Fig. 1.22: Diagram indicating longitudes to the west and east of the Prime Meridian de 165° west of Greenwich Meridian ample 1: A tourist is at a certain longitu ast of Greenwich Meridian? ‘at 4:00am. What will be time at the longitude 45° E: Working: ier arial ot wat tae oat ad ad th ot it oat at at ht Fig, 1.2.3: Calculating time for different time zones HEADQUARTERS aor a03ie aphy tas ate seosrety ME CLonGwe 3ce a on Since we are moving from West to the East, 1 hour will be added after every degrees because time is gained a, Number of hours between Longitude 165 degrees West of Greenwich an degrees (Greenwich or Prime Meridian) ic.. to the West of Greenwich/Prig, Meridian ‘Therefore, 165° = 15° = 11 hours b. Number of hours between Longitude 0 degrees and Longitude 45 degrees Bay of Greenwich/ Prime Meridian. ‘Therefore, 45° + 15° =3 hours ‘We add number of hours between 165°W and 0° + Number of hours between and 45°E = 11 hours + 3 hours = 14 hours ‘Therefore, the time at the Longitude 45° East of Greenwich Meridian = 4:00am + 14 hours = 6:00pm or 18:00hrs Example 2: It is 8:20am on the Prime Meridian. The local time at a certai longitude to the East of the Prime Meridian is 8:20pm. Find the degrees on th longitude 4p hbuls ditferehc West | EHIND| He oO} | | Fig. 1.2.4: Gaining time using longitudes From 8:20am to 8:20pm, there is a 12 hours difference added to 8:20am, 8:20am + 12 hrs = 2020 hours or 8:20pm meaning that 12 hours If 12 hours is added, then the degrees in 12 hours will be calculated by multiplyi®# 12 by 15°, to get 180° which will be added to 0° (Prime Meridian). Answer: The longitude will be 180° Geography East of the Prime or Greenwich Meridian (0"! west wednesdhy 7:30am Since ther longitudes always bel Answer: § same time In groups | 1. A trav ar 11: Meridi. 2 Whaty is 1300 2A geog Saturd, Meridic Report wheh ana Prime Pes Fag, Ween 0: certain 5 on this st ae Bxample 3: A journalist is at the longitude 180° East of Greenwich Meridian at 730am on Tuesday. What will be the time and day at the longitude 180° West of Greenwich? Working: WEST | EAST Ke tous {day} wie sublragieg | | | | ry | Thursday 7:30am EHIND) HE. 7:30 am Fig. 1.2.5: Losing time using latitudes Since there are 24 hours (1 day) between 180° East and 180° West of Greenwich longitudes, 1 day will be lost because we are going to the west where time is always behind. Answer: So it will be Wednesday at longitude 180° West of Greenwich but the Same time 7:30 am because the earth completes its rotation in 24 hours (1 day) Ac CEE In groups of five, answer the following questions: 1. A traveller leaves a certain town on longitude 120° West of Greenwich Meridian at 11:10am What will be the time at the longitude 75° East of Greenwich Meridian? 2. What will be the longitude of a port to the West of Prime Meridian when the time is 1300 hr on the Greenwich Meridian and 2100hr on the longitude? 3. A geographer is at the longitude 180° West of the Greenwich at 4:00pm on Saturday. What will be the day and time at the longitude 180° East of Greenwich Meridian? Report what you find to the whole class for further discussion, PEADGUARTERS oySait AS we saw earlier, standard time is defined as the time in any of the 24 ting zones into which the earth is divided. It is usually the mean time or official loca time of a particular country or regiori at the central meridian of the given zone With the help of your teacher and using an atlas, find out the standard time th; is operational in Malawi and discuss why you have given your answer The importance of using standard or local time The standard time is important and needful because it ensures there will be no Confusion with regard to the timelines among different places within the sam region. If each place hadits own time, it would create a lot of confusion. Standar time helps us to plan and execute activities in a synchronised and organised manner. For, example, a football match starting at 3pm at the longitude 30 West of the Greenwich Meridian would mean that time is 7pm at the lon, 30° degrees East of the Greenwich Meridian. Thus, one would be able to watc! the same match at the other longitudes by tuning the time with reference to th longitude where the match is being played. E INTERNATIONAL DATE LINE ‘The International Date Line as we saw earlier refers to a line of longitude thal Separates one day from the next and it is located at longitude 180°. It ap to separate Asia (Siberia) from North America (Alaska). q ppears MIDNIGHT FRIDAY, g Fig.1.2.6: The International Date li Md corny ine which appears to separate Asia from North Ameri ‘When one wl day W one Internation the two line | ! Ni KEYere Will be ny thin the same sion. Standay and organises longitude 3° - the longitude able to wath ference to the Jongitude that 30°. It apper When one crosses the International Date Line, the date changes by exactly one day when it is crossed that is, it separates two consecutive days. The International Date Line is on the opposite side of the Greenwich Meridian and the two lines together form a Great Circle, [ - 12:00 15:00 | 03:00 “21:00 KEY = x | Thursday ap MN Friday mh | International Date Line Fig.1.2.7: Diagram indicating how time is gained and lost using meridians ‘The diagram above shows the International Date Line which is the 180° longitude opposite the Greenwich Meridian since as we learnt the earth is spherical. The People living to the immediate left and right of the International Date Line experience the same timelines, that is they have the same local time but on two different, but consecutive dates. This difference in the dates is caused by difference of 24 hours between the places immediately to the west and east of the date line. Remember that there are 180° to the west and 180° to the east of the Greenwich Meridian. This translates to 12 hours (180°) to the west and 12 hours (180°) to the east of the Greenwich which in total is 24 hours or 1 day.(J OO Aa In order to understand this better, consider a traveller who goes eastwardy 4, ‘ paches the 180 the Greenwich Meridian, he will gain time until he reaches the 180 when he will be 12 hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time, Similarly, when jig th Westwards, he will lose time until he reaches the 180° meridian and he with D 12 hours behind the Greenwich Mean Time, There is thus a total difference a s & 24 hours or a whole day on the immediate opposite sides of the Internation I Date Line, When the tir ¢ is 5:00pm on Tuesday on the immediate right of t), ,on International Date Line, the time on the immediate left of this longitude will be 5:00pm but on Wednesday because one day is gained a perc the Dat | Line to the left. Also, you lose a day (24 hou whan ya rons b a mati Revi | Date Line to the right. The International Date Line is not particularly straigh \] and it has been drawn in such a way that it avoids islands and land mass 1. D | meaning that it passes through water masses only because there are no peopl a in such areas, This has been done to accommodate the Islands and countrie On the Pacific Ocean so that people living here would have similar local ¢ 3. A | standard time. tr | Importance of the International Date Line lo The International Date Line does not really have a practical value except for. those who cross it. It simply helps us to account for days that are lost or added lo when one is travelling across the world, The Portuguese explorer, Ferdinand Magellan sailed with his crew in te 3" 16" century around the world from the east to the west It is this team that x highlighted the need to have the International Date Lline when they arrived at * Cape Verde islands thinking it was one day earlier than it actually was, They thought that they had arrived on a Wednesday, July 9. 15 22. However, they . discovered that it was actually ‘Thursday. Even though they had kept accurate sailing logs, they had somehow still lost a day. The Inte 68 national Date Line was therefore established to solve this problem in the 18% century, It would nol M have been possible otherwise to explain or ac Count for Magellan's missing di 4n pairs answer the following questions 4, List down at | rast three east three things you have learn ave learnt in this topic that are completel) Tam 1 You, that you have never heard of before, Tell ie a interesting about these concep pede MS that You have learnt HQ rogray,Fa from leridis, From what you have learnt so far, identify and write down at least two prob a Z “T Boing that people in the past experienced with regard to time zones. , % P | "Bt € will , ee be 3 Describe how the problems they identified were resolved. TENCE of Paseo 4, Explain the concept of losing or adding a day once a person crosses the - International Date Line. ht of the " . tude wiz 5 Make a presentation to the rest of the class from your findings. al the Date srnational Faraehe Review Questions ‘d masses 1» Define the term ‘time zone no people 9. Give one reasons why time zones were created countries x local of 3, A tourist is at longitude 180° to the East of the Greenwich Meridian on Tuesday at Jam What will be the day and time for a fisherperson who is at Jongitude 180° to the West of the Greenwich Meridian? “The time at longitude 105° West of the Prime Meridian is 3pm What is the 9 fo ee Jongitude of a town to the East of Greenwich Meridian whose time is 2am? st OF §. Imagine flooding occurs at 6am on the longitude 75° East of the Greenwich rew in we Meridian. , team of + How many hours will an airplane move from the town that is at longitude ved 120° West of Greenwich Meridian to reach the area affected by flooding? y phes a ; was + What will be the time at an island that is 90° West of Greenwich Meridian? weve 6 Pe. - z , cust! }. How many hours is an island which is at longitude 45° East of Greenwich Meridian from a town which is at longitude 135° West of Greenwich Meridian?