Max Maths, Year 4, Learn together, Area (1)

In a lesson about understanding area, Year 4 students are introduced to the concept through a practical example. Samir, a character in the lesson, draws a rectangle measuring 8 cm in length and 2 cm in width. To help visualise the concept of area, he then divides this rectangle into smaller squares, each with a side length of 1 cm. By filling the rectangle with these squares, students can see that it contains 16 of them, perfectly covering the entire surface without any overlaps or gaps.

The lesson explains that the area is the term used to describe the amount of space inside a shape. In this case, the rectangle's area is 16 square centimetres, which is written as 16 cm². This activity not only illustrates what area represents but also invites students to explore the relationship between the rectangle's dimensions (its length and width) and the total area. By counting the 1-cm squares and noting the rectangle's dimensions, students are encouraged to find the connection between the numbers and understand how multiplying the length by the width gives the area of a rectangle.