A compound shape is made up of two or more shapes.

Calculate the area of shapes made from 2 or more rectangles

Maths

In this unit pupils will calculate the area of a rectangle using multiplication and use their knowledge of area to solve problems. In the future unit pupils will explain what volume is using a range of contexts and describe the units used to measure volume. They will explain how to calculate the volume of a cuboid.

In the prior unit pupils explained area and measured using counting as a strategy. They made different shapes with the same area and compared the area of different shapes. In this unit pupils will calculate the area of a rectangle using multiplication and use their knowledge of area to solve problems.

Link area of rectangles to multiplication

A {{ }} shape is one that is made up of two or more shapes.

This is an image of the French flag. It consists of three rectangles of equal size. Calculate the area of the blue part. {{ }} cm²

This image is of the flag from the Netherlands. It consists of three rectangles of equal size. Calculate the total area of the flag.  {{ }} cm²

This rectilinear shape is made up of four identical rectangles. Choose an efficient method to calculate the area. A = {{ }} cm²

Laura has chosen to decompose this compound rectilinear shape into two rectangles. Which multiplications will she use to help calculate the area?

To calculate an area of the playground, Lucas has chosen to calculate the whole area and then subtract the missing part. Correctly order the calculations that he would do.

Match the multiplication equation to the correct answer.

Which of these compound shapes has the largest area?

Split it into two rectangles using a vertical line. Combine the two areas.

Draw a rectangle around the shape. Subtract the area of the gap rectangle.

Split it into two rectangles using a horizontal line. Combine the two areas.

Which would be the most efficient strategy to calculate the area of this compound rectilinear shape?

What are the missing dimensions for the square?

Tick all the possible pairs of dimensions from the list.

The area of this compound shape is 227 cm². What is the missing dimension? 

This lesson will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.

Calculate the area of shapes made from 2 or more rectangles

Lesson outcome

This lesson will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.