Lesson 8

Scale Drawings and Maps

Let’s use scale drawings to solve problems.

8.1: A Train and a Car

Two cities are 243 miles apart.

  • It takes a train 4 hours to travel between the two cities at a constant speed.

  • A car travels between the two cities at a constant speed of 65 miles per hour.

Which is traveling faster, the car or the train? Be prepared to explain your reasoning.

8.2: Driving on I-90

  1. A driver is traveling at a constant speed on Interstate 90 outside of Chicago. If she traveled from Point A to Point B in 8 minutes, did she obey the speed limit of 55 miles per hour? Explain your reasoning.
  2. A traffic helicopter flew directly from Point A to Point B in 8 minutes. Did the helicopter travel faster or slower than the driver? Explain or show your reasoning.
An image of the distance tool.

Use the Distance tool  to measure the shortest distance between two points.

8.3: Biking through Kansas

A cyclist rides at a constant speed of 15 miles per hour. At this speed, about how long would it take the cyclist to ride from Garden City to Dodge City, Kansas?

Photograph of a cyclist. 
Map with a line, trending downward and right. 

 



Jada finds a map that says, “Note: This map is not to scale.” What do you think this means? Why is this information important?

Summary

Maps with scales are useful for making calculations involving speed, time, and distance. Here is a map of part of Alabama.

A map of a part of Alabama.