Year 5 Understand the concept of area worksheet

“What is area?” is free to print, with no account. It is the first sheet in the Year 5 maths unit “Understand the concept of area”, 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. Week 13 of the year, 5 sheets in the unit.

Free sample · answers on the last page

What is area?

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

Today I can explain what area measures and count square units to find it.

A Look back3 min

1.
4 rows of 5 counters. How many counters altogether?
2.
Each side of this square is 3 cm. The perimeter is cm.
3.
How long is this line? cm

B Watch me, then you4 min

Mia covers a table top with square tiles. Each tile is 1 square unit. How many square units cover the table top?

Watch me

Count the rows: there are 3.

Count the squares in one row: there are 4.

3 rows of 4 squares make 12 square units, so the area is 12.

Now you

1.
A mat is 2 rows of 8 square units. Its area is square units.

C Your turn6 min

Each square is 1 square unit. Count the squares inside each rectangle and write the area.

1.
How many square units cover this rectangle?
2.
How many square units cover this rectangle?
3.
How many square units cover this rectangle?
4.
How many square units cover this rectangle?

Say it out loud: What changed from one picture to the next? How did that change the area?

D Spot the mistake3 min

Ola says: “The rectangle is 4 cm long and 3 cm wide, so its area is 14 cm².”

1.
How many square units cover this rectangle?

E Think deeper4 min

1.
Ali says circles are no good for measuring area. Explain why square tiles are used instead.

How did it feel?

I can do it Nearly Not yet

For the grown-up

What is area? · 2 minutes to read

Answers, and what a wrong one tells you

A

1. 20

2. 12

3. 7

B

1. 16 your child has counted all the way round the edge, which is perimeter: 2 + 8 + 2 + 8 = 20. Area counts the squares inside. Count 2 rows of 8.

C

1. 6 your child has added the rows and columns: 2 + 3 = 5. Count one row at a time: 3, then 3 more makes 6.

2. 9

3. 15

4. 20 your child has counted round the edge: 4 + 5 + 4 + 5 = 18. That is perimeter. Count the squares inside: 4 rows of 5.

D

1. 12 14 is the perimeter: 4 + 3 + 4 + 3 goes all the way round the edge. Area counts the squares inside: 3 rows of 4 make 12.

E

1. Look for: Squares tessellate with no gaps or overlaps, so every part is counted; circles leave gaps.

Words to use

Say“Is the question asking about the inside of the shape, or the way round the edge?”

Instead of“Just tell them the answer, or say that perimeter and area are the same thing.”

After the sheet

Cover a tray with square sticky notes, count the notes that fit inside it, then walk the edge of the tray with a finger and talk about the difference.

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

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

Counting square units(with a plan)
Different shapes, same area(with a plan)
Comparing areas of shapes(with a plan)
Counting and drawing areas(with a plan)

Every Year 5 maths worksheet

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