Scale drawings and maps – Grade 7 math lesson

Lesson 11 of 21 in the Grade 7 math course

US version. US grades, US spelling and dollars ($). · UK Maths Department

A complete 45-minute lesson for grade 7 (ages 12–13) that runs on this page – at school or at home. Every answer is graded right away, with a worked explanation.

Time: 45 minutes + 20 min homework
Grade: Grade 7 (ages 12–13)
You need: Paper, a pencil and this page
Graded: Instantly, with explanations

For parents: how to use this lesson

You don't need to know this topic yourself. The lesson explains each step on screen, one tidy step at a time. Every answer is graded straight away with a worked explanation, so you never have to grade anything.

Read what your child will learn and the big ideas together.
Press Start the lesson below and sit with your child for the teaching and the worked examples (about 19 minutes).
Let them do the practice on their own. They choose Getting started, On track or Challenge – start on On track and move up after a few right in a row.
Finish with the exit ticket and the talk question: “Why does doubling the scale make the area four times bigger?”
Later that day or the next day: the homework (20 minutes), then a practice test.

Watch out for

Forgetting to convert centimeters to meters or kilometers. 100 cm = 1 m and 1,000 m = 1 km: convert at the end.
Using the length scale factor for area. Area scale factor is the length scale factor squared.

Tip for home: Use a map to work out how far it is to a friend's house.

What your child will learn

Learning goal: use scales on maps and drawings and find real lengths and areas.

Success looks like

I can use a map scale.
I can make a scale drawing.
I can find real areas from a scale drawing.

Key words

scale: how a drawing size compares with real size
scale factor: the number lengths are multiplied by
ratio: a comparison written a : b
to scale: drawn accurately with the same scale

What to have ready

Paper and a pencil
This page on a computer, tablet or phone
For the hands-on part: Measure a room and draw a plan of it to scale on squared paper.

The big ideas (for the adult)

A scale such as 1 : 50,000 means 1 cm on the map is 50,000 cm in real life.

Multiply a map length by the scale to find the real length, then change the units: 50,000 cm = 500 m.

For areas, the scale factor is squared: a scale of 1 : 100 makes real areas 10,000 times bigger.

The lesson, step by step

45 minutes in 5 parts
Part	Time	How it is checked
Starter: quick recall	5 min	Graded by Classfern
Teaching input	10 min	Not assessed, self-checked
Worked examples and guided practice	9 min	Not assessed, graded by Classfern
Independent practice	15 min	Graded by Classfern
Closure and exit ticket	6 min	Graded by Classfern, self-checked

Starter, "your turn", practice and exit ticket are graded by Classfern. Worked examples and teaching are not assessed. The hands-on task and the reflection are self-assessed. Explanations in talk are judged by the parent and not recorded.

The lesson

It runs here on the page. No sign-up and no names – progress is kept only in this browser.

Homework and practice at home

20 minutes: 10 practice questions, 3 multiple-choice questions and 2 to remember from earlier work, then a short reflection. New questions every time, all graded instantly.

More practice

Grade 7 Math: Geometry Practice TestGraded instantly

All Grade 7 math lessons and tests · Math Department

Curriculum

Common Core State Standards 7.G.A.1: “Solve problems involving scale drawings of geometric figures, including computing actual lengths and areas from a scale drawing and reproducing a scale drawing at a different scale.”

Our lessons and questions are our own. They are not written or endorsed by any government department, testing agency or exam board.