Hands-on Activity Using Map Scales to Figure Distances and Areas

Learning Objectives

After this activity, students should be able to:

• Use a map scale to determine distances between cities on a map and the size of areas on a map.
• Compare map areas determined in this activity to areas from a previous activity.
• Relate map areas and lengths to a real-world situation.

Educational Standards

Each TeachEngineering lesson or activity is correlated to one or more K-12 science, technology, engineering or math (STEM) educational standards.

All 100,000+ K-12 STEM standards covered in TeachEngineering are collected, maintained and packaged by the Achievement Standards Network (ASN), a project of D2L (www.achievementstandards.org).

In the ASN, standards are hierarchically structured: first by source; e.g., by state; within source by type; e.g., science or mathematics; within type by subtype, then by grade, etc.

NGSS: Next Generation Science Standards - Science

Common Core State Standards - Math

International Technology and Engineering Educators Association - Technology

State Standards

Materials List

• rulers, meter sticks, measuring tapes
• calculators
• 4 handouts: Scaling the Map Worksheet, Alabraska General Map, Alabraska Geology Map, Reference Page (vocabulary, formulas, unit conversions)
• (optional) a large-sized Alabraska General Map, 2 x 3 ft (.6 x 1 m), for display in the classroom; alternatively, use a projector to enlarge and display the map

Worksheets and Attachments

Pre-Req Knowledge

Some knowledge of length, width, area and volume; multiplication.

Introduction/Motivation

Now that your engineering team knows the required cavern area, your task is to translate that information to a map to see how big the cavern is compared to the size of the state of Alabraska.

Procedure

Background

As necessary, refresh students' knowledge on how to use map scales.

Before the Activity

• Gather materials and make copies of the handouts.
• Post (or project) the large-sized Alabraska General Map at the front of the classroom.

With the Students

1. Hand out the materials to the groups. 
2. Re-familiarize students with the maps by asking them a few questions, for example: What is the capitol of Alabraska? Where is it located in terms of grid coordinates? What types of transportation are represented in the state of Alabraska?
3. Discuss the map scale with students. Lead them through some examples by making map measurements with a ruler and then determining how many miles this represents according to the map scale. For example, if 1 centimeter = 10 kilometers, then 3 cm on the map represents 30 kms in the real world.
4. Give the engineering teams time to complete the worksheet. Tips for worksheet questions:

Q1: To put the worksheet answers into perspective, ask students to compare their answers to their own home-to-school distance.

Q2:The grid space area is determined by multiplying length by width.

Q3: Expect students to figure out that they can count grid spaces within the military base and multiply by the area per grid space (Q2 answer).

Q4: This is to give the students perspective.

Q5: Expect students to find that Alabraska is much bigger than the required cavern area.

5. As time permits or assign as homework: If students drew plans of their cavern designs at the end of the previous activity, now have them re-draw them to scale. An appropriate scale is 1 cm = 1 km.

Assessment

Worksheet: Review students' answers on the Scaling the Map Worksheet to gauge their mastery of the subject matter. Refer to the Asteroid Impact Student Workbook Example Answers provided in the unit document for example worksheet answers.

Quiz: To conclude, ask students to estimate distances using a different map. For example, estimate the distance from two cities such as London and Moscow, or the area of a U.S. state. Or have students conduct the Extension Activities.

Homework: If students drew plans of their cavern designs at the end of the previous activity, now assign them re-draw them to scale. An appropriate scale is 1 cm = 1 km.

Activity Extensions

• On a map of the U.S., use the scale to determine the area of any state.
• Find the largest country in the world and use the scale to determine its size.
• What are the tallest buildings in the world? For example, the Willis Tower in Chicago is 1,450 feet tall (110 floors). If you were asked to build a model of this skyscraper at a scale of 1 inch = 100 feet, how tall would the model be? (Answer: 14.5 inches tall.) For extra credit, convert English units to metric units (442 meters).

Copyright

Supporting Program

Acknowledgements

Adventure Engineering was supported by National Science Foundation grant nos. DUE 9950660 and GK-12 0086457. However, these contents do not necessarily represent the policies of the National Science Foundation, and you should not assume endorsement by the federal government.