Great ellipse

High school (ages 12+)
Mathematics & Numbers

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/great-ellipse

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the classification?A special case of an 'earth section path,' indicating its geometric origin
2. What is the application?Frequently proposed and utilized for optimal routes in marine navigation
3. How does a great ellipse look on Earth?On Earth, a great ellipse looks like a curved line that goes from one point to another, passing over the middle of the planet. If the Earth were a perfect sphere, this line would be a circle.
4. Why do sailors use great ellipses?Sailors use great ellipses because the line is almost the shortest route between two places on the planet, so it saves time and fuel on long ocean trips.

Spheroid: A three-dimensional shape that is approximately spherical but may be flattened or elongated, like the Earth's shape.
Ellipse: A conic section defined as the set of all points in a plane such that the sum of the distances from two fixed points (foci) is constant.
Geodesic: The shortest path between two points on a curved surface, analogous to a straight line on a flat plane.
Oblate Spheroid: A spheroid that is flattened at the poles and bulges at the equator, like the Earth.