Map Ratios
Click on this link to read about map scales http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/mapzone/map-skills
Click on the ‘Understanding Scale’ link and answer these questions:
1) Maps show things accurately as they are in real life, but they are shown bigger / smaller
than in real life by drawing them to scale.
2) A scale of 1 : 25 000 means that every one unit of measurement on the map is equal to
……………… units of the same measurement in real life. The units could be millimetres,
centimetres, inches, footsteps, or whatever length you want.
3) A Large-Scale map shows a large / small amount of detail for a large / small area of land.
The largest scale in the Ordnance Survey (OS) Map range is 1 : …………… which makes it
ideal for …………………
1 cm on this map represents ……………… cm in real life.
which is ……………… m or ……………… km.
4) A Small-Scale map shows a large / small amount of detail for a large / small area of land.
The smallest scale in the Ordnance Survey (OS) Map range is 1 : …………… which makes
it ideal for …………………
1 cm on this map represents ……………… cm in real life.
which is ……………… m or ……………… km.
5) The Explorer series of maps are good for planning walks.
The scale is 1 : ……………
1 cm on the map represents ……………… cm in real life,
which is ……………… m or ……………… km.
So a 1km walk in real life measures ……………… cm on an Explorer map
and a 6 km walk is ……………… cm on an Explorer map.
6) The Landranger series of maps are good for planning cycle routes.
The scale is 1 : ……………, so it shows twice / half as much detail as the Explorer maps.
1 cm on the map represents ……………… cm in real life,
which is ……………… m or ……………… km.
So a 1km bike ride in real life measures ……………… cm on a Landranger map
and a 30 km bike ride is ……………… cm on a Landranger map.
Now go the OS Map shop at this link https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/shop/ and answer the
questions below.
7) Which Landranger (pink top) map has Wellsway School on it? Map number …………
8) What area does the Landranger map cover? …………km by …………km
9) How many Landranger maps cover the whole country? …………
10) Which Explorer (orange top) map has Wellsway School on it? Map number …………
11) How many Explorer maps cover the whole country? …………
Go to the OS Homepage.
12) How many changes are made every day to OS maps for the country? …………
Now go to the interactive Google Maps website at this link https://maps.google.co.uk/ and find the
distance from your house to Wellsway School (postcode:BS31 1PH). Does the route and the
distance change depending on whether you are walking, cycling or going by car?
13) Distance from my home to school is ……………… miles
You need to find an online distance converter to change this measurement from miles to
kilometres. This is another everyday example of ratio and proportion in the real world.
14) 1 mile = …………km
15) Distance from my home to school is ……………… km
Choose a place you want to visit in Britain! Take the class on a school trip! How far away is it in
miles? Convert this to kilometres.
16) Distance from Wellsway School to ……………………………
is ……………… miles or ………………km
Now do your own research. Find other examples of information which use Scale and Ratio. Give
some examples of these, and what scales they use.
Can you find any scales which show things bigger than they are in real life?