7th grade · Math · Unit 17 of 17
Scale Drawings
Maps and floor plans
What your child practices
Finding real lengths and areas from a scale drawing or map, and redrawing at a different scale.
Maine Learning Results learning standard: 7.G.A.1 · solving problems with scale drawings, including actual lengths and areas
How we explain it
Children can open this short lesson before they practice.
- The scale tells how a drawing length matches a real length.
- Multiply by the scale to find real lengths.
- Find real side lengths first, then the real area.
Example: On a map, 1 cm stands for 5 m. A path is 7 cm. How long is it really? 7 × 5 = 35. Answer: 35 m
Scale Drawings in Maine
In the Maine Learning Results, this is unit 17 of 17 in 7th grade Math, after Samples & Populations.
Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.
Source: Maine Department of Education
Sample questions
A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.
Question 1
On a map, 1 cm stands for 9 m. A path is 8 cm long on the map. How long is it really?
- 72 m
- 81 m
- 71 m
- 17 m
72 m
Hint: 8 × 9.
Question 2
A scale drawing uses 1 in = 10 ft. A wall is 120 ft long. How long is it on the drawing?
- 12 in
- 1200 in
- 15 in
- 13 in
12 in
Hint: 120 ÷ 10.
Question 3
A room is drawn as a 4 in by 4 in rectangle. The scale is 1 in = 10 ft. What is the real area?
- 16 ft²
- 160 ft²
- 1600 ft²
- 1599 ft²
1600 ft²
Hint: Real sides: 40 ft and 40 ft. Area = 40 × 40.
Question 4
A drawing at 1 cm = 5 m shows a fence 12 cm long. It is redrawn at 1 cm = 10 m. How long is the fence on the new drawing?
- 12 cm
- 6 cm
- 24 cm
- 8 cm
6 cm
Hint: Real length = 60 m. New drawing: 60 ÷ 10.
Question 5
A drawing at 1 cm = 4 m shows a fence 14 cm long. It is redrawn at 1 cm = 8 m. How long is the fence on the new drawing?
- 28 cm
- 10 cm
- 7 cm
- 14 cm
7 cm
Hint: Real length = 56 m. New drawing: 56 ÷ 8.
Question 6
On a map, 1 in stands for 6 ft. A path is 8 in long on the map. How long is it really?
- 54 ft
- 48 ft
- 46 ft
- 14 ft
48 ft
Hint: 8 × 6.