Sextant

High school (ages 12+)
Geography

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/sextant

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 related scientific fields?Astronomy, geometry, trigonometry, optics, and chronometry
2. What is a sextant and how does it help sailors?A sextant is a tool that measures the angle between a star, the sun, or the moon and the horizon. By reading this angle, sailors can find their latitude and know where they are on the ocean.
3. How did the sextant improve sea travel?With a sextant, sailors could determine their north‑south position accurately. This made long voyages safer and helped chart coastlines and trade routes.

Celestial Altitude: The angular height of a celestial body above the horizon, measured in degrees.
Dip Correction: An adjustment applied to sextant readings to account for the apparent lowering of the horizon due to observer height.