Year 5 Link area of rectangles to multiplication worksheet

“Counting square centimetres” is free to print, with no account. It is the first sheet in the Year 5 maths unit “Link area of rectangles to multiplication”, for children aged 9 to 10, and takes about 20 minutes.

Print it on A4. The child's pages come first; the answers, and what each wrong answer tells you, are on the grown-up page that follows. Weeks 14 to 15 of the year, 10 sheets in the unit.

Free sample · answers on the last page

Counting square centimetres

Name: ____________ · Date: ____________
Year 5 · Maths · about 20 minutes
Answers are on the grown-up page

Today I can count whole square centimetres to measure the area of a flat shape.

A Look back3 min

1.
6 × 4 =
2.
Which numbers from 1 to 10 are factors of 12? Write them all.
3.
What is 7 × 8?

B Watch me, then you4 min

Ali draws a rectangle on squared paper. Each small square is 1 cm wide and 1 cm tall. How much area does the rectangle cover?

Watch me

Count the squares in one row: 5 squares.

There are 4 rows of 5 squares.

4 × 5 = 20, so the area is 20 cm².

Now you

1.
This rectangle is 3 squares tall and 6 squares wide. Its area is cm².

C Your turn5 min

1.
The rectangle is 2 squares tall and 5 squares wide. Its area is cm².
2.
The rectangle is 3 squares tall and 5 squares wide. Its area is cm².
3.
The rectangle is 4 squares tall and 5 squares wide. Its area is cm².
4.
The rectangle is 5 squares tall and 5 squares wide. Its area is cm².

Say it out loud: What changed from one rectangle to the next? What stayed the same?

D Spot the mistake2 min

Ali says: “The shaded piece fills some of a square centimetre, so it counts as one whole square centimetre.”

1.
How much of one whole square centimetre does the shaded piece cover?

E Think deeper4 min

A rectangle has an area of 16 square centimetres. Its sides are whole centimetres.

1.
Write every width in whole centimetres that could be one side of this rectangle. Then tell your grown-up how you know you have them all.

How did it feel?

I can do it Nearly Not yet

For the grown-up

Counting square centimetres · 2 minutes to read

Answers, and what a wrong one tells you

A

1. 24 If your child writes 10, they have added 6 and 4. Ask them to count how many rows of 4 there are.

2. 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 If your child misses one out, ask them to test each number by dividing 12 by it. If it divides with no remainder, it is a factor.

3. 56 If your child writes 15, they have added 7 and 8. Ask how many rows of 8 are in the picture.

B

1. 18 cm² If your child writes 9, they have added 3 and 6. Ask them to count the squares in each row and how many rows there are.

C

1. 10 cm² If your child writes 7, they have added the two sides. Ask them to count the squares inside, not around the edge.

2. 15 cm²

3. 20 cm²

4. 25 cm²

D

1. half a square centimetre, 0.5 cm² If your child writes 1, they have counted the shaded piece as a whole square. Ask: how many of these pieces fit in one square? Two matching halves make one whole square.

E

1. 1, 2, 4, 8, 16 If your child leaves out the bigger numbers, ask them: what times what makes 16? Try each number from 1 to 16 and check it divides 16 exactly.

Words to use

Say“Count the squares in one row, then count the rows. Say the area with cm² at the end.”

Instead of“Just tell them the answer.”

After the sheet

Lay 12 buttons or dried beans on a tray in 3 rows of 4. Count them row by row, then say 3 rows of 4 make 12.

Tick what your child got right in StudyDen. Anything missed comes back in a later Look back box, so there's no need to redo the sheet.

The rest of this unit

9 more sheets come with a StudyDen plan, in teaching order:

Square metres and area(with a plan)
Area is length times width(with a plan)
Area by multiplying(with a plan)
Splitting shapes for area(with a plan)
Shapes made from rectangles(with a plan)
Choosing a quick route(with a plan)
Finding missing sides(with a plan)
Shapes from rectangles(with a plan)
Area problems with more answers(with a plan)

Every Year 5 maths worksheet

The worksheets plan opens a printable sheet for every lesson in Years 1 to 6, each with its answers on a separate page for you. It costs £6.99 a month or £59 a year for the whole family, with no free trial.

The full StudyDen plan adds the lessons themselves, marked as your child works, with the worksheets included. It is 7 days free, then £29.99 a month.

Get the worksheets Try the full plan free

Both start with a free account; you choose the plan when you sign up.