1. ▼ 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 :
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 : cm to 1 km = 1 : 100 × 1000 = 1 : : = 1 :
Most detail is probably shown in the 1 : (scale used by OS Landranger Maps), and least detail in the 1 cm to 1 km scale maps.
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