New
New
Year 6

Use the area of a parallelogram formula to calculate unknown measurements

I can use the area of a parallelogram formula to calculate unknown measurements.

New
New
Year 6

Use the area of a parallelogram formula to calculate unknown measurements

I can use the area of a parallelogram formula to calculate unknown measurements.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. The area of a parallelogram is equal to its base multiplied by its perpendicular height.
  2. If the area of a parallelogram is known, division can be used to determine a missing base or perpendicular height.

Keywords

  • Parallelogram - A parallelogram is a quadrilateral with two pairs of parallel and equal sides.

  • Base - The base is the side which is perpendicular to the shape’s height.

  • Perpendicular - Two lines are perpendicular if they meet at a right angle.

Common misconception

Pupils highly familiar with finding the area of a rectangle by multiplying its side lengths might overgeneralise and multiply the base by a side length rather than by the perpendicular height.

Some 'red herring' examples are given in the Practice questions where the side length is given unnecessarily. You may wish to make an extra teaching point of how this is superfluous. Remind pupils of the formula, which does not include side lengths.

The application of the formula for the area of a parallelogram within the lesson includes a range of values to allow for revision of multiplication of larger integers and decimals. Consider how you may wish to adapt this for some learners to continue to focus on application of the formula.
Teacher tip

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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6 Questions

Q1.
A parallelogram has pairs of equal side lengths.
Correct Answer: 2
Q2.
What is the inverse of multiplication?
Repeated addition
Correct answer: Division
Subtraction
Q3.
108 ÷ 12 =
Correct Answer: 9
Q4.
What is the formula for the area of a parallelogram? Write the missing word. Area = __________ × perpendicular height.
Correct Answer: base
Q5.
What is the area of the parallelogram? cm².
An image in a quiz
Correct Answer: 96
Q6.
A parallelogram has a base length of 7 cm and a perpendicular height of 6 cm. What is the area of the parallelogram? cm².
Correct Answer: 42

6 Questions

Q1.
If the area of a parallelogram is known, what formula could be used to work out the missing perpendicular height?
Correct answer: area ÷ base = perpendicular height
area − base = perpendicular height
area × base = perpendicular height
area ÷ perpendicular height = base
Q2.
If the area of a parallelogram is known, what formula could be used to work out the missing base?
area ÷ base = perpendicular height
area − perpendicular height = base
area × perpendicular height = base
Correct answer: area ÷ perpendicular height = base
Q3.
If the parallelogram has an area of 60 cm², what is the missing base? cm.
An image in a quiz
Correct Answer: 12
Q4.
If the parallelogram has an area of 240 cm², what is the missing perpendicular height? cm.
An image in a quiz
Correct Answer: 10
Q5.
If a parallelogram has an area of 48 cm² and a base of 8 cm, what is the missing perpendicular height? cm.
Correct Answer: 6
Q6.
If a parallelogram has an area of 48 cm² and a perpendicular height of 12 cm, what is the missing base? cm.
Correct Answer: 4