Question P3 Rectangle and square measurement
The shown 8-by-5 rectangle is covered with square tiles. Does the number of tiles describe its area or its perimeter?
Answer
area
Rectangle and square measurement
Use opposite equal sides, undo the area or perimeter formula, and count each outside edge once.
In this one. Area counts square units covering a surface, while perimeter measures distance around its edge.
Squares tiling a rectangle, or a shape made of several rectangles joined together, point here. The question asks for area, perimeter, or the length of a missing side.
Children multiply length by width when the question actually asks for perimeter. On a composite shape, they add only the labelled sides and miss the ones they must work out themselves.
Worked examples of all 33 patterns and skills, in a booklet you can print.