Compare the areas of squares, rectangles and triangles before and after being scaled down (reduced). Notice that 'similar shapes' in the mathematical sense have the same shape but different areas. Explore the relationship between side-length reduction and area reduction when scaling down shapes. This learning object is the third in a series of eight objects that progressively increase in difficulty.
Objective
1. Students manipulate shapes to distinguish between similar and non-similar plane shapes.
2. Students apply a formula to calculate the area of a range of shapes.
3. Students identify the relationship between side length and area in similar shapes.
