Lesson · Grade 5 · Mathematics
Area and Perimeter: What Is the Difference?
- Grade 5
- Mathematics
- 1 min 21 s
- British Columbia
- BC5-MA-27
A 6 cm by 2 cm rectangle has its perimeter traced and added up (6 + 2 + 6 + 2 = 16 cm), then its inside covered with 1 cm squares to find the area (2 × 6 = 12 cm²). The same number of squares then makes a 4 cm by 3 cm rectangle with the same area of 12 cm² but a perimeter of only 14 cm, showing that perimeter is the distance around a shape and area is the space inside it.
Concept: Area and perimeter: what is the difference
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In one sentence
The question this lesson answers
How are area and perimeter different?
Here is a rectangle, 6 centimetres long and 2 centimetres wide.
Transcript
What the lesson says
How are area and perimeter different?
Here is a rectangle, 6 centimetres long and 2 centimetres wide.
Perimeter is the distance all the way around the edge.
6 plus 2 plus 6 plus 2 makes 16 centimetres.
Area is the space inside the shape.
We cover the inside with squares, 1 centimetre on each side.
There are 2 rows of 6 squares.
2 times 6 makes 12 square centimetres.
Perimeter is measured in centimetres, and area in square centimetres.
Now let's make a new rectangle from 12 squares.
This one is 4 centimetres long and 3 centimetres wide.
Its perimeter is 4 plus 3 plus 4 plus 3, which makes 14 centimetres.
There are 3 rows of 4 squares, and 3 times 4 makes 12 square centimetres.
The two rectangles have the same area, but different perimeters.
Perimeter is the distance around a shape, and area is the space inside it.
Curriculum
Where this fits
- British Columbia, Grade 5
Mathematics, Geometry and measurement: relationships between area and perimeterBC5-MA-27
Previous: Area of a Rectangle: Count the Squares, Then MultiplyNext: Same Perimeter, Different Areas
The outcomes and strands follow the British Columbia curriculum.
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