Area of parallelograms and triangles worksheet

This worksheet, designed for key stage 2 students, provides a series of engaging activities aimed at teaching children how to calculate the area of parallelograms and triangles. In Activity 1, students are given a variety of these shapes on squared paper and tasked with counting the squares to determine the area. They then exchange their work with a partner to verify the accuracy of their calculations. This hands-on approach helps students to visually understand the concept of area and reinforces their counting skills.

Subsequent activities delve deeper into the properties of triangles. In Activity 2, each student works out the area of a selected triangle and then draws another triangle with the same area, fostering creativity and understanding of geometric principles. Pairs of students then swap and check each other's work for accuracy. Activity 3 challenges students to find the dimensions of right-angled triangles with a given area, enhancing their problem-solving abilities. Activity 4 requires the application of their knowledge to calculate the area of composite shapes made up of triangles. Finally, Activity 5 encourages students to use squared paper and rulers to draw triangles of specified areas, allowing them to explore a range of possible solutions and recognise patterns. The objective of these activities is to enable students to accurately calculate the area of parallelograms and triangles, as well as to understand when to apply formulae for the area and volume of shapes.