▼ 1 centimetre to 1 kilometre ▼ 1 : 50 000 Scale drawing GM4.1 Core Plenary Over the years, maps for walkers have used several different scales. Which one of these shows the most detail? ▼ 1 inch to 1 mile ▼ 1 centimetre to 1 kilometre ▼ 1 : 50 000 You may find this information useful: 12 inches = 1 foot 1 mile = 5280 feet 1 inch  2.54 cm 1 cm  0.4 inches Preamble A multi-step problem with a surfeit of data, which some pupils will find a challenge. However it puts map scales into a real context. It is not uncommon for pupils to assume that bigger scale numbers correspond to greater detail. Given the possible problems, pupils should be given a short time to probe the problem individually and then discuss it together as a class. Possible content Using and interpreting ratio in terms of map scales. Resources None. Solution/Notes They are many ways to solve this problem; the easiest is to change all scales into dimensionless ratios. 1 inch to 1 mile = 1 : 12 × 5280 = 1 : 63 360 1 cm to 1 km = 1 : 100 × 1000 = 1 : 100 000 1 : 50 000 = 1 : 50 000 Most detail is probably shown in the 1 : 50 000 (scale used by OS Landranger Maps), and least detail in the 1 cm to 1 km scale maps. Original Material © Cambridge University Press 2009 Photo © YKh / Shutterstock Original Material © Cambridge University Press 2009