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Recognize Area as an Attribute of Shapes

Students will learn that area is the amount of flat space inside a two-dimensional shape. They will compare the areas of different shapes by looking at how much surface they cover, building the foundational concept that area is an attribute of plane figures.

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Recognize Area as an Attribute of Shapes

Grade 3 · Understanding Area · question 1 of 3

0 of 12

12 rungs. A star at the top.

ABCDeach square one square centimeter

Count the squares shape A covers.

How it is taught

0:00 of 3:07

Area is the flat space inside a shape.

Every plane figure has area as an attribute.

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Read it: Count in, walk around

A three-by-six frame of squares sits on the page. You could count every square from one. Look: eighteen fill the inside, and eighteen walk the edge.

  1. Count the squares that fill the inside: 18.
  2. Walk the edge: 6, 3, 6, 3.
  3. Name both: 18 inside, 18 around.

Counting every square from one works, but it is slow, and eighteen squares are easy to miss.

The inside count tells how much the frame covers. The walk around tells how long the edge is.

Eighteen inside and eighteen round can match on this frame. They still measure two different things.

Count the squares inside, then walk all the way around: two measurements of one shape.

Counting only the squares on the edge and calling that how many fill the frame.

Inside is the squares that fill. Round is the walk along the sides. Keep the two counts apart.

A rectangle is 3 squares by 3. How many squares cover it? — 9. 3 rows of 3 squares: skip-count the rows — 3, 6, 9.

Comparing the area of two shapes

Imagine painting the floor of two rooms. The bigger the floor, the more paint we need. That flat space inside a shape has a name — area.

Area is the amount of flat space inside a two-dimensional shape.

Here is a rectangle. Look at the flat space inside it.

Grade 3 · Area is the flat space inside a shape

We covered it with twelve squares. The rectangle's area is twelve squares.

Now here is a smaller square. Look at the flat space inside it.

Only four squares fit inside. The square's area is four squares.

Twelve is more than four, so the rectangle has a bigger area than the square.

Area tells us how much flat space a shape covers. Every flat shape has an area — that's why we call it an attribute!

What you see

While they climb, your page writes one true line to ask about tonight, and a short note each Sunday.

MayaGrade 3 · Mathematics
Did you know?

A chessboard has 64 squares — share them out between the 8 rows and each row holds exactly 8.

Today’s goal
1 star — one skill mastered, every rung of its ladder climbed
Climbing now
Divide within 100

An example student.

MayaGrade 3 · Mathematics

Maya earned 2 stars this week — Interpret multiplication as equal groups, which took 6 answers over 3 days before its star landed 3 days ago and Multiply by 6, 7, 8 and 9. Next up: Divide within 100.

An example week.

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