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Area

Maths: Year 5 & 6 National Curriculum, topic 8.3.1

Area

The area of a shape is the space enclosed within it. You need to be able to calculate the area of some 2D shapes.

Rectangle

Rectangle

  • The area of a rectangle is equal to length × width.
Parallelogram

Parallelogram

  • The area of a parallelogram is equal to base × height.
  • The 'height' isn't actually a side length - it is the vertical distance from top edge to bottom edge.
Triangle

Triangle

  • The area of a triangle is equal to 12\frac{1}{2} × base × height.
Link between area and perimeter

Link between area and perimeter

  • Different shapes can have the same area and have different perimeters.
Area and perimeter example

Area and perimeter example

  • You will see that the areas in these two rectangles are the same.
  • But the perimeters are different.

Test yourself on Area

  • What is the area of the rectangle below?

  • What is the area of the parallelogram below?

  • Which of the following equations for calculating the area of 2D shapes are correct?

  • What is the area of this triangle?

  • What is the area of this triangle?

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