Understanding Area
Understand that a unit square has one square unit of area and that the area of a plane figure is the number of unit squares that cover it without gaps or overlaps
What a learner can do afterwards
- Identify a unit square and state its area is 1 square unit
- Explain why a figure covered by 12 unit squares has area 12 square units
- Distinguish between area and perimeter as different measurements
The lesson
Area tells you how much flat space a shape covers. To measure it, we use unit squares: small squares that are all the same size. One unit square has an area of exactly 1 square unit.
Sam covers a rectangle with unit squares. He counts 3 rows, and each row has 4 squares. That is 12 squares in total, so the rectangle's area is 12 square units.
Area is not the same as perimeter. Area counts the unit squares that cover the inside of a shape. Perimeter measures the distance around the outside edge.
Area is the number of unit squares, each worth 1 square unit, that cover a shape with no gaps or overlaps.
Watch it
Where it sits
Learn first
This opens up
Where this leads
8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.