NBA Basketball Teams Absolute Location Assignment with a Google Earth Tour

Absolute and relative location are two basic, important geography tools that all students must master.

While there are many available assignments to teach these concepts to elementary school and middle school/junior high school students, here’s one with a twist! Students will locate all 30 NBA teams using absolute and relative location.

Absolute location, of course, requires students to use latitude and longitude to give their answers. Relative location requires cardinal directions (north, south, east, west) and intermediate directions (northeast, northwest, southeast, southwest).

This would be an effective assignment as the NBA season opens its latest season.

Included, please find the assignment with chart for record-keeping, an answer key, a blank map, a political USA/Canada map, and an idea for an extension assignment.

Plus, how about this idea for an educational technology twist? I used Google Earth and a custom-made kml file to bring the stadium tour to life in your classroom. I have included simple instructions to install the file on your laptop or desktop computer.