Answer :
EXPLANATION
Since we have that Mateo measured a picnic area and the scale was 3 inches = 1 yard, we need to represent the yard as inches in order to get the scale factor:
1 yard = 36 inches
Dividing both quanitities:
[tex]\text{Scale factor = }\frac{3}{36}=\frac{1}{12}=1\colon12[/tex]In conclusion, the scale factor is 1:12