Map Skills Worksheet – Scale & Legend Practice

Use a map legend to work out what the symbols on a map represent

Use a map scale to estimate the distance between two places

Answer questions about a map in writing, choosing the right tool for each question

Work one scale question together on the board first; measuring against a scale bar is the step children most often skip

Keep a ruler or a strip of paper on each desk, since judging distance from a scale bar is easier with a straight edge than by eye

Two pages means the sheet can be split — legend work in a lesson, scale work as the follow-up — if the class needs the two tools kept apart

Follow with a map the children know, a local street map or a plan of the school, so the same two tools are used on something familiar

Reading a map legend — students match the symbols printed on the map to what they stand for before they can answer where something is.

Using a map scale — distance questions require converting the printed scale bar into real distance rather than counting squares.

Written short-answer response — all seven items are answered in writing, so children have to state what they found as well as find it.