Study guide: Maps as Decision Models
Combine scale, coordinates, conditional time estimates, and explicit route criteria.
Ideas to explain in your own words
- Use a supplied scale without confusing a map with real travel conditions.
- Read signed fictional coordinates and keep the model distinct from latitude and longitude.
- Use a supplied rate while stating the limits of a model.
- Choose a paper route under explicit criteria and report missing facts.
Watch your reasoning
- Each map centimetre represents 250 m, so 6 × 250 = 1,500 m. The calculation gives separation, not a guarantee about travel time or route accessibility.
- The local system defines negative x as west and positive y as north. It is expressly not a geographic latitude/longitude system.
- The model moving time is 20 minutes and the additional wait is 5, giving 25 minutes.
- B satisfies the requirement. A’s shorter length does not compensate for failing it, and the records do not establish real current conditions.
A worked review example
Turn a map measurement into distance: School to library: 4 × 250 = 1,000 m, which is 1 km. This is their straight-line separation; the map does not prove the bridge is open or the route step-free. Interpret a Local Coordinate Model: “Studio (3,2) and clinic (3,-1) have the same x. Their vertical separation is 2 − (−1) = 3 blocks, or 300 m. The garden at (-2,1) is two blocks west and one north of the library.” Make a Conditional Travel-Time Estimate: “1,200 m ÷ 60 m/min = 20 minutes moving time. With a 5-minute gate wait, the model total is 25 minutes. Both numbers assume the entire route is traveled at the supplied rate without other pauses.” Compare Routes by Stated Criteria: “A is shorter but includes stairs, so it fails the project’s requirement. B is marked step-free and is the only supplied qualifying route. I select B on the paper map, while current closures and entrance details remain unknown.”
Make a practice plan
- Try the supplied lesson problems without looking at the answers.
- Compare your method with the worked examples and explain any correction.
- Use the new review cases, then complete the transfer task on paper or in your own document.