Now let us make a map of a whole room. Imagine the ceiling is gone and you are a bird looking down into a bedroom.
Key idea
A map of a room shows each thing in the right place, but much smaller than the real room.
Why it works
A real bed would never fit on a piece of paper. So the mapmaker draws everything smaller by the same amount. The bed stays next to the same wall, and the rug stays in the middle, so the map still tells the truth about where things are.
Worked example: Reading the room map
What is right in front of the door?
- Find the door: the curved line at the bottom of the map.
- Look just above it, into the room.
- There is the rug, in the middle of the room.
Answer: The rug.
Common mistake
Some children think things on a map must be the real size. A map is like a toy model: everything is smaller, but it is all in the same place.
For the grown-up. Draw a map of your child's room together. Start with the walls (a big rectangle), then the door and the window, then the bed. Ask, "Where does the dresser go?"