Area in Square Metres

“I just saw the coolest game on tv.I wish we could play.” “What did it look like?” “There was an area with a net and they used this thing to hit a small ball back and forth.” “I think I will surprise Zuri with building her a ping pong table to play her favourite game.” We can help Freddie surprise Zuri by finding area in square metres. Area is the measurement of the inside of a shape. We can find the area of a rectangular shape by making arrays or by using the formula, area equals length times width. When measuring the area of an object, like the size of a ping pong table, we can measure it using the unit metres. Freddie sees the length of a ping pong table is three metres and the width is two metres. To find the area, we will multiply the length times the width, or three by two. What is three times two? Six. The area of the ping pong table will measure six metres squared. It is important to label your answer with the proper unit of measurement since it tells others what type of units we are using. “Surprise!” “What is this?” “Your favourite game?” Freddie is back to the drawing board with Zuri’s surprise. He now realises he needs to make a tennis court, not a ping pong table! We can again find the area in square metres. He sees the length of a tennis court is twenty four metres and the width is ten metres. What do we need to do to find the area? Since we know area is length multiplied by width we need to multiply twenty four times ten. What is twenty four times ten? Two hundred and forty. Freddie will make the tennis court with an area of two hundred and forty metres squared. Remember, including the units of measurement is part of the answer and must be included to communicate the size of the shape. As Freddie tries to surprise Zuri with her new favourite game one more time, let’s review. Remember, area is the measurement of the inside of a shape. It is the amount of space taken up by a two-dimensional object. We can calculate the area of a rectangular shape by using the formula, area equals length times width. To find the area, first identify the length and replace it with the value. Next, identify the width and replace it with the value. Then, multiply the numbers. Make sure to add the correct unit of measurement after the product. Spaces like these can be measured in square metres and so can spaces like these! “Surprise?” “Thank you, Freddie! I love it!” “Ok, now what do we do?” “No clue.”