Area and Perimeter - Make Your Own Figure

Topic:Area, Geometry, Perimeter, Rectangle, Square

Make Your Own Figure

You will be using the line segment tool to create a polygon with 8 or more sides. Below is a quick demo of how to use the tool.

HOW TO USE (Quick Silent Demo)

Here are the rules:

1) There must be 8 or more sides. 2) Each side must he horizontal (back and forth) or vertical (up and down). There should be no diagonal sides. 3) When you are done making the shape, use the fill square tool to fill in any square unit (square inside of the figure).

Side Lengths of Your Figure

The perimeter of a figure measures the length of the border of the figure. Use the grid to count the length of each side of your figure. Below, list the length of each side. (For example, 5,4,3,7,6,4,2,3).

Perimeter of Your Figure.

Add the side lengths of your figure together to find the total perimeter. Write the total perimeter below. Write "units" after your number answer which can be replaced by feet, inches, or whatever measurement is given in a problem.

Perimeter

This is always how you find perimeter - add up the sides! Sometimes there are specific formulas for perimeter that are shortcuts, but, ultimately, perimeter is always the sum of the sides.

How Many Squares are filled in?

Count the number of squares that are filled in for your figure. Write the answer below.

Area of your figure

This one is easy! If you counted the squares correctly, that is your area. Write the same answer here. After your answer write "square units" because you area answers the question, how many squares of a certain size (units) are in the figure?

Don't forget!

As we work through this unit, hopefully this activity will help you remember what area and perimeter are. Perimeter is the distance around the figure. Area is the number of squares (square units) inside of the figure.