Students groups are given a list of four countries of various shapes and sizes. Their task is to find one country with as close an area as possible to each given country. The group with the smallest total difference wins. Student groups are give a pair of cities. They are to estimate the distance between the two cities and list two more with approximately the same distance.
Students then measure the distances and calculate the difference.
The group with the smallest difference wins. This activity encourages students to pay particular attention to map scales. Student groups are given a list of four countries. Their task is to find one country whose area is very close to the total area of the four countries. The group with the smallest difference wins.