Areas of Parallelograms and Trapezoids!
Group (Name): Emily, Julie, Celine, Alma, Meghan
1.
(Julie) To find the area of a rectangle, we multiply the length by the width of the figure. Below
are three figures all with sides 3 units long and 7 units long. Determine if they all have the same area.
Can you multiply the length by width of parallelograms to find the area?
2.
(Celine) You can't determine a parallelogram's area by the length of its sides! But you can by
the lengths of its PARTS. Look at the parallelogram below. Can you guess the formula?
Parallelogram Area= ______ * ______
3.
(Alma) Let's consider it another way. How could you subdivide and recombine this figure to
find the area?
This explains why the area of a parallelogram is b*h
4.
(Emily) Let's try another way. How could you enclose this parallelogram into a rectangle to find
the area (b*h)?
5.
(Megan) Using this knowledge, how can we find the area of a trapezoid? Is there a way to turn a
trapezoid into a parallelogram?
So, the area of a trapezoid=
(_______ + _______) * ______
__________________
2
Another way to figure the area of a trapezoid can be seen through this trapezoid and formula
B1
---------------- -
B2