Earth globe map look. Globe is a model of the Earth. geographic poles. Virtual Earth Globe

The modern Internet gives really a lot of useful opportunities to those people who are looking for them. For example, a lover of geography or simply beautiful views may be very interested in a virtual globe of the Earth, made in 3D.

On the network you can find quite a lot of services offering to view and study the map of the Earth globe online. Naturally, I want to consider the most interesting of them.

Mother Earth - one of the most visual virtual globes of the Earth

Indeed, it is this option that offers to look not only at the Earth's globe online, but also provides a number of opportunities for changing the resulting image.

What does that require:

  • Go to main page online service http://oos.moxiecode.com/js_webgl/world/index.html where the 3D model will be presented in its classic version against the background of the starry sky and our Sun;
  • The image can be easily rotated in different directions by controlling the rotations with the mouse;
  • Most importantly, everything is absolutely free!

If desired, you can easily change the display option. To do this, pay attention to a small menu located in the upper right corner of the desktop screen. In addition to the classic one, you can find six more options for the virtual globe of the Earth:

  1. Blocks - displays the continents of the planet in the form of original blocks.
  2. Geodesic - makes it possible to evaluate the relief.
  3. Lines - similar to the previous option, only the model is presented in the form of spectacular vertical lines.
  4. Horizontal Lines - as the name implies, the lines will now be horizontal. Looks very interesting.
  5. Half Spheres - get something fantastic with the help of hemispheres.

There is another option - particles. What exactly it shows is not entirely clear. But it looks very original. Perhaps these are communication towers that transmit their signals throughout the planetary network.

Alternative online services

Of the alternative online globes of our planet, it is worth paying attention to three options presented on the website www.webglearth.com. This resource offers a rather interesting alternative:


The last option is a real find for historians who do not have the opportunity to get to Rome and personally examine this relic.

The earth is an exact copy of the globe (joke)

Our Earth is one of eight planets in the solar system. The Earth moves at a speed of 107,159 kilometers per hour around the Sun. At the same time, it rotates like a top around its own axis at a speed of 1,670 kilometers per hour (speed at the equator). The journey from Earth to space will pass through a layer of nitrogen and oxygen approximately 1,600 kilometers thick. This layer of air is called the atmosphere. Thanks to the atmosphere and gravity, we do not feel the rotation of the Earth.
The earth receives heat and light from the sun. Light travels at a speed of 300,000 kilometers per second. The Earth is about 150 million kilometers from the Sun; so a beam of light travels through space for about 8 minutes before reaching the earth.
The globe represents our Earth in miniature. Because the globe has three dimensions, like the Earth, it displays true dimensions, shapes, distances, and directions. Maps and atlases, due to the fact that they are flat and have only two dimensions, show the Earth with distortions. It is impossible to represent a round object on a plane without distortion.
Some globes (relief) show raised surfaces (which signify mountains) and indentations (sea depressions). There is an element of distortion here. We must understand that the highest mountain on Earth (Everest, height 8,840 meters) must be like a grain of very fine sand on a globe 30 centimeters in diameter, the deepest depression in the ocean (11,022 meters, the Mariana Trench) must be shown as an indentation equal to the thickness of thin paper.
For a good understanding of geography and astronomy, for a more intellectual understanding of the news received from other parts of the planet - nothing can compare with the globe in terms of relevance. A globe should be in every home, every school classroom and every library.

The shape and size of the Earth

The globe is a perfectly round ball, but the Earth itself is slightly flattened at the poles. The technical term for the shape of the Earth is geoid. The following diagram shows the difference in some measurements of the Earth. These differences show that the Earth is not a perfect sphere:

The total surface area of ​​the globe is 510,072,000 square kilometers. The share of the land surface is about 30% (148,940,000 square kilometers). Approximately 70% of this area (361,132,000 square kilometers) is covered by water.

All my life, these two objects go side by side, and they always surprise with their dissimilarity. On the one hand, both are just a reduced, and on the other, a whole layer in the history of development.

True, here, too, you need to be careful. After all, standard globes are thirty or even eighty million times smaller than a real planet, so the area covered by a finger can include several islands or even countries.

So if you seriously decide to find out where it is better to go, then you should use a globe made for the Paris Exhibition of 1889. It is only slightly smaller than the globe. Some million times. You won't miss here.

Of course, it appeared much later than the cards, but managed to get its share of popularity. Being first made in 1492, it managed to come in handy both for navigation and for school study guide, although in recent times as an aid it is used much more often.

It should be noted that the name Globe did not appear by chance, although the one who came up with it did not have a wild imagination. Globe is translated from Latin as a ball. Yes, just a ball - capacious and understandable.

Only one question remains unresolved. If you take a globe and a map with the same and stick a map on the globe, will the mountains and rivers coincide? Curious? Well then you can try. Although it is better to ask the teacher first.

We have all seen the globe, but do we know everything about it? In this lesson, you will learn a lot about the globe model. Get acquainted with the ideas of ancient people about the appearance of the Earth. Learn about the discovery of the sphericity of the Earth by Magellan. Consider a model of the globe - a globe, and find out which lines on the globe are called meridians and parallels, why they are needed, what is the equator and where the zero meridian passes. You will learn about the history of the creation of globes and their huge variety.

Subject: The planet we live on

Lesson: Globe - a model of the globe

The correct idea of ​​the Earth and its shape was formed by different peoples not immediately and not at the same time, but people relied primarily on myths. Some peoples believed that the Earth is flat and rests on three whales that swim in the boundless oceans of the world.

Rice. 1. Mythical representation of the globe

The ancient Indians imagined the Earth as a hemisphere held by elephants standing on a huge turtle.

Rice. 2. Indian representation of the globe

In ancient times, people believed that if you walk in one direction for a very long time, you can reach the place where the sky meets the earth. Of course, a person wanted to know what was beyond the edge of the Earth. People had a lot of questions that the concept of a flat earth did not give an answer to. For example, why does a ship disappear from view as it moves away from the shore? Why does the horizon expand when you climb a hill?

Rice. 3. A ship moving away from the coast

Rice. 4. Upland

The Portuguese navigator led the expedition, which consisted of five sailboats. They set off from the coast of Spain to the islands of spices (to the Moluccas and the Philippine Islands) for pepper, cloves, cinnamon - these spices were very expensive in Europe.

Rice. 5. Ferdinand Magellan

Rice. 6. Kupang - Kai archipelago (Moluccas)

Rice. 7. Palawan, the fifth largest island of the Archipelago, is located to the west, away from the main part of the Philippine Islands.

The journey was very difficult: the first sailboat crashed on the rocks, the crew of the second returned home halfway, the third sailboat was so dilapidated that it had to be burned, the crew of the fourth was captured, and Magellan himself died. Three years later, the Victoria sailboat, which means victory, reached its native shore. It was the expedition that made the first known trip around the world and proved the correctness of the assumption about the sphericity of the Earth. And we owe this great discovery to the glorious navigator Ferdinand Magellan.

To better imagine appearance Earth, people created her model - the globe(from lat. globus - a ball), which has the same shape as the Earth, only many times smaller.

Rice. 8. Model of the globe

With the help of a globe, it is easy to imagine the spherical shape of the Earth. Why do we say exactly spherical, and not a ball? Artificial satellites have helped to gain accurate knowledge about the shape of the Earth. Flying around the Earth, the satellites sent radio signals all the time - messages about their distance from the Earth.

Rice. 9. Satellite orbiting the Earth

From these signals, special electronic machines determined the altitude of the satellites, and writing devices helped to "draw" the shape of the Earth. It turned out that our Earth is not a regular ball - it is slightly flattened at the poles. The globe is fixed on an axis, but our planet rotates around an imaginary axis. Note that the point where the axis leaves the globe at the top is called north geographic pole(from lat. polus - axis), and the lower point - South Geographic Pole of the Earth.

Rice. 10. Rotation of the Earth around an imaginary axis

If you look at the globe more closely, you will see that circular lines are drawn along its surface. They help determine the exact location of various terrestrial objects. Lines on a globe or on a map, conditionally drawn along the surface of the Earth from one pole to another, are called meridians(from lat. meridianus - midday). The direction of the shadow from objects at noon coincides with the direction of the meridian at a given point on earth's surface. The meridian can be drawn through any point on Earth, and it will always be directed from north to south. All meridians are the same length. Mentally traveling along any meridian, you will definitely find yourself either on the northernmost point of the earth - the North Pole, or on the southernmost point - the South Pole. Zero conditionally consider meridian, which passes through the oldest astronomical observatory in the city of Greenwich in the UK.

Rice. 11. Greenwich Observatory.

It was recognized as the initial one by a special international agreement in 1884. Prior to this agreement, each country called the zero meridian the one that passed through its capital. For example, in Spain the countdown began from Madrid, in Italy - from Rome. In Russia, for a long time, the Pulkovo meridian was considered zero, passing through the main astronomical observatory of the country, which was founded near St. Petersburg.

Observatory about ria(from lat. observo - I observe) is a scientific institution where observations and studies of weather, atmosphere, astronomical bodies are made.

Rice. 12. Pulkovo observatory.

The Greenwich prime meridian line divides the globe into Western and Eastern Hemispheres.

Rice. 13. Western and Eastern Hemisphere

An imaginary line passes at an equal distance from the poles, which is called equator(from lat. aequador - equalizer). The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern hemispheres. On the equatorial line, day is always equal to night, and the Sun is at its zenith twice a year - on the days of the spring and autumn equinoxes.

If you look at the globe from above, we will see the Northern Hemisphere and the North Pole, and from below - the South Pole and the Southern Hemisphere. Our homeland Russia is located in the Northern Hemisphere.

Parallel to the equator on globes and maps parallels(from the Greek. parallelos - walking side by side), they are all directed from west to east.

The longest parallel equator, the length of other parallels decreases towards the poles, and at the pole the parallel turns into a point. Intersecting, parallels and meridians form a degree grid.

Rice. 14. Northern and Southern Hemisphere

It is known that the model of the globe was first built by the custodian of the Pergamon Library Crates of Malos in the 2nd century BC. BC, but, unfortunately, it has not been preserved.

Rice. 15. Globe of Crates

The first terrestrial globe that has come down to us was made in 1492 by the German geographer and traveler Martin Beheim (1459-1507). Beheim placed on his model, which was called the "earth apple", a map of the world of the ancient Greek scientist Ptolemy. Naturally, this globe was missing a lot of objects.

Rice. 16. Behaim's "Earth Apple"

Later, globes became very popular. They could be seen in the chambers of monarchs, in the offices of ministers, scientists and merchants. Pocket globes in special cases were intended for travel. Medium-sized globes made for cabinets were often equipped with a mechanism that set them in motion, rotating around an axis.

In the past, globes were installed on ships, and now on spacecraft.

Some globes exceed human height, and they contain not only colorful maps of the surface of the Earth or the sky, but also information about different countries, plants and animals, and the hills are made convex.

  1. Vakhrushev A.A., Danilov D.D. The world around 3. M .: Ballas.
  2. Dmitrieva N.Ya., Kazakov A.N. The world around 3. M .: Publishing house "Fedorov".
  3. Pleshakov A.A. Surrounding world 3. M .: Enlightenment.
  1. Festival of Pedagogical Ideas ().
  2. Shack.ru ().
  3. Planet Earth ().
  1. Take an ordinary thread and determine the length of the various meridians on the globe. What can you say about them? (They are the same length).
  2. Use a thread to determine the length of the parallels. What can you say about them? (The largest parallel is the equator. The length of the parallels decreases towards the poles).
  3. Which parallels are the shortest? (This is the North and South Pole).
  4. Answer yes or no to the following statements:

1) On the globe, you can see the thinnest lines covering the surface of the globe. (Yes)

2) These lines are imaginary, in fact they are not on the earth's surface. (Yes)

3) Lines that connect North and south pole are called parallels. (Not)

4) The lines that connect the North and South Poles are called meridians. (Yes)

5) All meridians intersect at the North and South Poles (Yes)

6) The longest meridian is the equator. (Not)

7) Equator is the longest parallel. (Yes)

8) The equator divides the globe into two hemispheres - Northern and Southern. (Yes)

9) The equator is a line that bisects all meridians. (Yes)

10) The smallest parallels are the North and South Poles of the Earth. (Yes)

11) All meridians of the Earth have different lengths (No)

12) All meridians of the Earth have the same length. (Yes)

According to many astronauts, there is nothing more beautiful than the view of our planet from the outside. When the Earth looks like a big Balloon, on which snow-white clouds, gray rocks and the blue expanse of endless ocean waters are located. This article will provide various online maps and 3D Earth globes. To use them, there is no need to download additional software, as is the case with Google Earth. The maps are interactive, so you can view them online right from these pages.

Realistic 3D world globe

This is a 3D sample globe made up of fairly detailed raster photo textures that were created using a NASA satellite. To rotate the globe, hold down the left mouse button. To change the scale of the map, scroll the mouse wheel - up will zoom in, down - zoom out.

If you scale an area on the globe very close, you will get a not very high-quality image. This is due to the low resolution of most of the pictures taken. This approach to creating a globe ensures fast loading of textures by the browser. If images were used good quality, your browser would take a long time to download them due to the large size.

Virtual 3D Earth Globe Sample Online

On the network you can find many services that offer to view and study the 3D globe map of the Earth in an online browser. This model is a three-dimensional globe on which we can find areas of cities and states, settlements and even streets and buildings. Such an interactive globe is great for zooming. It's all about the vector textures that are used for this model, so you can scale the globe without loss of quality and see different objects on it. Some sites even allow you to see the name of the streets and house numbers.

Globe Giovanni Maria Cassini displays a historical map of the world

A very interesting specimen is a historical globe. It shows us a view of the planet Earth, as people who lived at the end of the 18th century looked. The author of this globe is considered Giovanni Maria Cassini, who created it back in 1790. The globe is interactive, like the previous ones. With it, you can also rotate the globe, zoom in and out. Here you can even find the routes of the expeditions of James Cook. They are marked on the globe in different colors.

Google Maps is a mapping service that provides satellite interactive maps of the Earth online.

For today Google Maps are among the most detailed digital maps in the world. Wherever you are, having a smartphone, tablet or laptop with you, you can find a route to any object on the map, find the nearest cafe, library, bank branch, etc. The map is very similar to any online 3D earth globe.


To create a route anywhere on the map, open Google Maps :


To find any place, country, city, village, open Google Maps again. Enter the desired object in the search bar and press "Enter" or the magnifying glass icon.


The map will immediately display the location you entered. On the left in the block you can find basic information on the found place on the map. Here is the current temperature, local time and other interesting facts.

Yandex Maps - satellite maps of the Earth in 3D online

Yandex, the most famous search engine in Russia, has its own service interactive maps- Yandex maps. They allow you to find the right place, build routes with any points on the map, print any site, view street panoramas, provide Maps API and much more. There is an interesting section - people's maps, where you can independently edit any objects, houses, gardens, streets, wells, etc., after passing moderation, they will be on the Yandex Maps service.

To find any point on the planet:


With the help of Yandex Maps, you can, like a 3D globe model online, find any point on our planet Earth. To do this, you need to enter a name locality in the search bar or point with the mouse directly on the map.