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Map Scales

Test your understanding of map scales expressed as ratios with this self marking quiz.

Level 1 Level 2 Exam-Style Description Help Ratio Measures

This is level 2: more complex questions including the calculation of areas. You can earn a trophy if you get at least 7 questions correct and you do this activity online.

1. What is the scale of a map on which four centimetres represents one kilometre?

    A. 1:25000
    B. 1:50000
    C. 1:100000
    D. 1:200000
    E. 1:5000000

Type the letter of your chosen answer into the answer box.

Correct Wrong

2. Some students are planning to design a map of central London that will just fit on an A4 sheet of paper. The section of London they want to represent is 10km by 14km. Which of the following map scales should they choose?

    A. 1:25000
    B. 1:50000
    C. 1:100000
    D. 1:200000
    E. 1:5000000

Type the letter of your chosen answer into the answer box.

Correct Wrong

3. An old Ordnance Survey one inch to the mile map shows that two lighthouses are exactly one foot apart. What is the actual distance between them in miles?

miles Correct Wrong

4. On a new Ordnance Survey 1:50 000 scale map a rectangular reservoir is 3cm wide and 7cm long. What is the area, in square kilometers, of the actual reservoir?

km2 Correct Wrong

5. On a 1:25 000 scale map a rectangular airfield is 8cm wide and 27cm long. What is the area, in hectares, of the actual airfield?
[1 hectare is 10 000m2]

ha Correct Wrong

6. What does an area of 8cm2 represent on a 1:100 map? Give your answer in square centimetres.

cm2 Correct Wrong

7. What does an area of 9cm2 represent on a 1:100 map? Give your answer in square metres.

m2 Correct Wrong

8. What does an area of 10cm2 represent on a 1:50000 map? Give your answer in square kilometres.

km2 Correct Wrong

9. Bala lake has an area of 4.84km2. What would the area of the image of the lake be on a 1:50000 map? Give your answer in square centimetres.

cm2 Correct Wrong

10. Lake Windermere has an area of 14.73km2. The area of the image of the lake on a 1:x scale map is 235.68cm2
Find x.

Correct Wrong
Check

Instructions

Try your best to answer the questions above. Type your answers into the boxes provided leaving no spaces. As you work through the exercise regularly click the "check" button. If you have any wrong answers, do your best to do corrections but if there is anything you don't understand, please ask your teacher for help.

When you have got all of the questions correct you may want to print out this page and paste it into your exercise book. If you keep your work in an ePortfolio you could take a screen shot of your answers and paste that into your Maths file.

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Description of Levels

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Level 1 - Straight-forward questions about map scales expressed as ratios

Level 2 - More complex questions including the calculation of areas.

Exam Style questions are in the style of GCSE or IB/A-level exam paper questions and worked solutions are available for Transum subscribers.

More on Ratio including lesson Starters, visual aids and investigations.

More on Measures including lesson Starters, visual aids and investigations.

Answers to this exercise are available lower down this page when you are logged in to your Transum account. If you don’t yet have a Transum subscription one can be very quickly set up if you are a teacher, tutor or parent.

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Curriculum Reference

See the National Curriculum page for links to related online activities and resources.

Example

Don't wait until you have finished the exercise before you click on the 'Check' button. Click it often as you work through the questions to see if you are answering them correctly. You can double-click the 'Check' button to make it float at the bottom of your screen.

Answers to this exercise are available lower down this page when you are logged in to your Transum account. If you don’t yet have a Transum subscription one can be very quickly set up if you are a teacher, tutor or parent.

Log in Sign up

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