Lesson 5.2: Scale Factors and Scale Diagrams

Lesson 5.2: Scale Factors and Scale Diagrams

Some basketball coaches use a handheld whiteboard with the image of a basketball court permanently displayed to draw upcoming plays during a basketball game or practice. This visual aid helps players see the anticipated movements of every player on the court. The basketball court diagram is an example of just one of the many ways scale factors can be used to represent smaller versions of shapes and objects. While just a rough scale drawing of the basketball court displayed on the whiteboard is sufficient to give players an understanding of the plays, there are a number of situations in which safety depends on scale drawings being perfect. When architects create blue-prints and 3-D models of buildings to be constructed, the exact measures must be represented for structural design and stability. In Lesson 5.2, you will explore the use of scale factors as they are applied to 2-D shapes and 3-D objects.