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Finding the Area of Composite Figures with Triangles | Math with Mr. J

From Math with Mr. J

Finding the Area of Composite Figures with Triangles | Math with Mr. J
6 min6thMath
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Summary

How to find the area of triangles, parallelograms, and other polygons using their formulas. Mr. J shows where each formula comes from.

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All ages

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Teaching resources

Discussion questions

Every area formula comes back to covering a shape with unit squares.

  1. How is the area of a triangle related to a rectangle?
  2. What is the formula for the area of a parallelogram?
  3. Why do you take half for a triangle?

Quick work-a-long

Words to know: area, base, height, triangle, parallelogram

  • Find the area of a triangle with base 8 and height 5.
  • Find the area of a parallelogram with base 6 and height 4.
Finding the Area of Composite Figures with Triangles | Math with Mr. J — TV on a Rolling Cart