Measuring with a Map Scale

Use a graphic scale to find the distance between places on a map.

Warm-up, learn, try it together, practice, then a quick check. About 15 minutes.

What children learn in Level 1

Welcome to your toolbox! This year you'll travel from the 1750s to the 1870s, and you'll need the tools that historians and mapmakers use. The first one is the scale bar.
A map is much smaller than the real land. The scale bar tells how far a real distance is. On this map, one bar stands for 50 miles.
Lay the bar along the way from Oak Hill to Pine Lake, again and again. It fits 3 times. 3 times 50 is 150, so the towns are 150 miles apart.
Scales change from map to map, so always check. Here the same 3 bars are only 30 miles, because one bar is 10 miles.
Try it with a grown-up: find the scale on a road map and measure a trip you've taken, using a strip of paper.

Georgia Standards of Excellence in Social Studies:

MGS.5 — Map and Globe Skill 5: use graphic scales to determine distances on a map (introduced in Grade 4)