Although similarity is a mathematical concept that is frequently used in everyday life with models, diagrams and maps, it is also a word used frequently in everyday language, but with a different definition. Two people can be similar because they both have brown hair yet mathematical similarity denotes an actual replica that is a shrunken or larger version of the original. By exploring maps and the idea of similarity, students understand the specifics of the mathematical definition and make sense of the concept by applying their understanding to the real-world.