4.4+Using+Map+Scales

 Claudia Meyer 11-10-08

**__4.4: Using Map Scales__**

Big Idea: Many things in our world are mathematically similar and we can use this to understand and describe the world around us. Essential Question: What types of situations can i solve using my similarity ideas.

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A) Q: How can you use the scale on the map to calculate the scale factor between the map and the real state? What is the scale factor? A: The scale on the map says 120 km. What I would do to calculate the scale factor is multiply 50 (the number of km per cm) by 100 (how many cm in a meter) times 1000 (how many meters in a km) times 120 (the highest amount of km there are on the scale). This would give me the scale factor. The scale factor that i came up with is 5,000,000.

B) Q: How many miles of fencing would it take to surround the state of Utah?   A:     It would take about 2953.6 mi of fencing to surround the state of Utah.

C) Q: Use the scale to estimate the area of Utah. Explain your work. A: My estimate of the area of Utah is about 1124.5 square miles. My method to figure this out was multiplying the length by the width of Utah (the measurements were 4.5 by 3.5 in), multiplying that by the scale factor equals the number of square inches. Then you convert that number into feet (divide by 12) then into miles (divide by 5280). Then subtract the area of the little chunk that was missing. Which was calculated the same way but with the length and width being 1in. by 1.5in. That would give me the area of Utah.

D) Q: If you drove at a steady speed of 55 miles per hour, about how long would it take you to travel from Logan to Saint George? A: It would take me about 6 hours (5.96 hours) to travel from Logan to Saint George.

__Follow-Up__ Q: The total land and water area of the United States is about 3,717,522 square miles. What percent of this total area is the area of Utah? A: Utah's area is 3% of this total area! <span style="font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif;"><span style="display: block; font-size: 80%; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; text-align: left;">