Cracking the Code

Using "Google Earth"

An activity from

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/activities/01/crackcode.html

edited by Miss Tvarok

Unthinkable!

Cunning robbers have broken into the Dewitt Wallace Museum of Decorative Arts, stealing precious maps and globes from Colonial Williamsburg.  They escaped capture, but left behind one clue...a scrap of paper with what seems to be a coded message on it!  At the top is a cryptic rhyme that appears to be instructions from the thieves' leader:

First letters from each place-name read,

 1.  Find the places on Google Earth by entering the coordinates.

2.  As you find each red circle location, write the name on the scrap of paper worksheet. 

3. Circle the first letter of each location.

4.  Read the letters from top to bottom and it will spell where the thieves are hiding!

5.  Lastly, find the location on Google Earth and complete the worksheet by recording the coordinates of the hiding place.

Spell out the city and come with speed!

  
You are puzzled because the note doesn't contain the names of any locations, just strange combinations of numbers and letters.  Upon closer look, you realize instantly that the code is actually longitude and latitude coordinates.  You understand immediately that you need to use Google Earth help you crack the code!