Short Activity

Step 1. Wrap the a piece of string around the equator of a globe. Cut it so that it only goes about ¼ of the way around.
Step 2. Cut another piece of string that also reaches ¼ around the globe.
Step 3. Tape one piece of string along the equator
Step 4. Tape the other piece of string along the 45 degrees north latitude line(half way between the North Pole and equator) make sure that the left end of this string is directly north of the other piece of string. Also be sure that the strings are parallel.

What you should see -
The string at 45 degrees north latitude should make it more than ¼ of the way around the globe. This is because the distance around the world becomes increasingly small closer to the poles.

As the earth rotates, all points along the equator are moving faster than other locations. The slowest moving places are the poles. Spin your globe and watch the North Pole, it just rotates in one spot. Locations along the equator however, must make the long trip around a large distance in the same amount of time that points away from the equator make their shorter trips.

As the World Turns...
As the earth rotates, we go along for the ride. Our bodies, trees, cars and even the air are moving along with the surface of the earth. Air is not firmly attached to the ground however and is free to move in any direction. Although the air has something with it as it goes. It has momentum.

If you have ever heard "an object in motion tends to stay in motion" then this is where you can apply it. This is called Newton's First Law of Motion. If you were to run across a slick floor in socks or skate across ice than momentum would keep you moving, until you run into something or friction slows the movement until you stop.

Air has momentum. Along the equator the air will be carried eastward along with the rotating earth. If the earth were to immediately stop the atmosphere would continue to move for a while. This would create a wind nearly 1,000 miles per hour along the equator!