Measuring distances on a scale drawing using a ruler and interpreting what the measurement represents.
Where your child meets this in real life: Reading floor plans, treasure maps, or ordnance survey maps of Northern Ireland
SEAGReady breaks read scale drawings into 2 steps, taught in order so each skill builds on the last.
Read measurements from scale drawings using scales of 1:10, 1:100, or 1:1000 and state the real-life length
Read measurements from scale drawings using scales like 1:20, 1:25, 1:50, or 1:200
Three free sample questions from our read scale drawings course. Every question comes with a full explanation, and hints that guide without giving the answer away.
Aoife is looking at a floor plan of her house. The scale on the plan is 1:100. She measures the living room and finds it is 5 cm on the plan. What is the real length of the living room?
Answer: A. 500 cm
Scale 1:100 means 1 cm on the drawing is 100 cm in real life. Drawing measurement = 5 cm Real length = 5 x 100 = 500 cm
Stuck? Start here: What does 1:100 mean? 1 cm on the plan represents how many cm in real life?
Oisin is helping his mum plan their new kitchen. On the architect's drawing, the counter measures 4 cm. The scale is 1:50. What is the real length of the counter?
Answer: A. 200 cm
Scale 1:50 means 1 cm on the drawing is 50 cm in real life. Drawing measurement = 4 cm Real length = 4 x 50 = 200 cm
Stuck? Start here: Scale 1:50 means 1 cm on the drawing equals 50 cm in real life.
A map of Belfast city centre has a scale of 1:1000. Sean measures the distance from City Hall to Victoria Square on the map and gets 7 cm. What is the real distance?
Answer: B. 7000 cm
Scale 1:1000 means 1 cm on the map is 1000 cm in real life. Map measurement = 7 cm Real distance = 7 x 1000 = 7000 cm
Stuck? Start here: Look at the scale: 1:1000. What does this tell you about the multiplication?
This is the exact interactive worked example your child sees in SEAGReady. Step through it and watch the method build up.
Ciara is looking at a floor plan of her school. The scale on the plan is 1:100. She measures the corridor and finds it is 8 cm on the plan.
What is the real length of the corridor?
8 cm × 100
Step 1 of 3
Ciara is looking at a floor plan of her school. The scale on the plan is 1:100. She measures the corridor and finds it is 8 cm on the plan.
What is the real length of the corridor?
The real corridor is 800 cm long.
The key insight: With powers of ten scales, just add zeros! 1:100 means add two zeros.
Watch out: 8 ÷ 100 = 0.08 cm. Real life is BIGGER than the drawing, so we multiply, not divide.
These are the misconceptions we see most often in read scale drawings, including the ones our practice questions are specifically designed to catch.
Struggling with read scale drawings? The real gap is often in one of these earlier topics.
SEAGReady finds the exact step where your child gets stuck, teaches it with worked examples like the one above, and brings it back for review so it sticks.