Scotch puzzle
You’ll need
- Coloured pens or pencils
- A4 paper
- Scissors
Before you begin
- Cut out the outlines of Scotland from the second page of the ‘Scotland’s size’ puzzle sheet. Keep these with the sheet, as each person will need all seven.
Run the activity
- Hand out the ‘Scotland’s size’ puzzle sheet with seven cut-outs of Scotland per person. Try to find Scotland on the maps. Does anyone know how big Scotland is compared to Wales, England and Northern Ireland.
- Colour in Scotland to remind them where it is.
- To work out the size of Scotland, everyone can try to fit their Scotland cut-outs into other countries on the map. If they know the names of the other countries, they should write down the name and how many Scotland cut-outs fit inside it (e.g. England fits two Scotlands).
To help, some of the countries have been labelled. If anyone knows the name of any of the other countries, they should try to name them.
- When everyone has tried fitting the Scotland cut-outs into the countries, each person can read out or describe a country they tried to fit Scotland into. See which countries fit the most cut-outs and which were too small to fit any.
You could make a table showing the largest countries in Europe by Scotland cutouts. The group may have found that France and Spain were the biggest countries and fit about seven Scotlands. Sweden and Germany are also big and can fit six Scotlands. Poland, Italy and Romania are medium-sized by European standards, fitting four Scotlands. Portugal and Serbia are quite small – each of these will only fit one Scotland.
- Ask the group whether they think Scotland is a big country or a small country. Remind everyone that Scotland has lots of islands (point them out on the map), the biggest mountain in the UK (Ben Nevis) and giant lakes like Loch Ness. However, point out that the main bit of Scotland is only 554 times longer than the world’s tallest building which, for a country, is pretty small.
Reflection
The group have looked at Scotland on a map. Had anyone ever seen a picture of Scotland from above? Who counted all of the islands? Did the islands make it look bigger or did Scotland’s shape mean that it looked small?
By putting cutouts of Scotland into other countries on the map, the group showed that there are lots of countries in Europe that are bigger than Scotland. Which countries were the closest in size to Scotland? Were they close to Scotland or far away? What other countries did you learn about in this activity?
Safety
All activities must be safely managed. You must complete a thorough risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce risk. Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Always get approval for the activity, and have suitable supervision and an InTouch process.
- Scissors
Supervise young people appropriately when they’re using scissors. Store all sharp objects securely, out of the reach of young people.
Geography enthusiast might know the names of lots of the countries on the map. They could try to fit Scotland cutouts into every country that they can name and rank them from largest to smallest.
Guide others by suggesting two or three countries by name, and support them to work out where the countries are. Together work out the right one and the number of Scotland cutouts that fit in it.
Make it accessible
All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.
Find two interesting facts about Scotland’s geography. Things that the group could look for are:
How long it is (in miles)
How wide it is (in miles)
How many people live there
How many islands it has