Topic 12 – Measures Year 8 - Mr. I.

Craus

Topic 12: Measures

Broad Learning Outcome:

• I can derive and use formulae to calculate the area of flat shapes,
• I can derive and use formulae to calculate the surface area of solid shapes,
• I can identify nets of a triangular prism and a square-based pyramid.

Introduction of Measures
“Measurement” is the act of determining an object size, length, weight,
capacity, or other aspect. We use different tools to help us measure different
objects, like the ones below:

The most common measures that we use are the perimeter and area of flat
shapes. Below write the perimeter and area of a rectangle and triangle:
Shape Perimeter Area

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Topic12 – Measures Year 8 - Mr. I. Craus

Ex. 1: A farmer wants to enclose some chickens in an area of 60m2 with a

wooden fence. Fill in the table below with the different possible lengths and
widths as well as the resulting perimeter. Find the dimensions that requires the
less amount of wooden fence.

Area Length Width Perimeter

60m2

60m2

60m2

60m2

60m2

60m2

Area of a Parallelogram
In this section, we will derive and work out problems involving the area of a
parallelogram. Let’s revise some properties of this flat shape.

• ________________________________________
__________________________________________
• ________________________________________
__________________________________________
• ________________________________________
__________________________________________

Now, we need to derive the formula for the area of a parallelogram. There are
two ways of doing so: either by drawing a parallelogram on a square grid and
count the squares or else by manipulating the parallelogram to a shape we
are already familiar with.

Method 1: On the square grid in the next page, draw a parallelogram and a
rectangle with the same height and base. Count the squares to find their area.

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Topic 12 – Measures Year 8 - Mr. I. Craus

What can you notice about the areas of the two shapes?

___________________________________________________________________________

Method 2: Cut out both the parallelograms. Stick one of them on the left side
in the space below and label the base & height. Take the other and cut a right
angled triangle. Try to create a flat shape that you are familiar with.

What do you notice about the areas of the two shapes above?

___________________________________________________________________________

What can you conclude on the area of a parallelogram? What is the formula?

Area of
=
parallelogram

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Topic12 – Measures Year 8 - Mr. I. Craus

Ex. 2: Work out the area of the following parallelograms:

Area of a Trapezium
In this section, we will derive and work out
problems involving the area of a trapezium.
Some properties of this flat shape are:

• ____________________________________________

____________________________________________

• ____________________________________________

____________________________________________

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Topic 12 – Measures Year 8 - Mr. I. Craus

Now, let’s derive the formula for the area of a trapezium.

Cut the trapeziums given and stick one of them below. Take the other and
draw a diagonal line from one vertex to another. The trapezium has now been
split into _______________________________________________________________.
Cut along this line and stick them below the other trapezium.

Let’s try to figure out the formula for the area of a trapezium:

Therefore, in general:

Area of
=
trapezium

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Topic12 – Measures Year 8 - Mr. I. Craus

Ex 3: Work out the area of the following trapeziums:

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Topic 12 – Measures Year 8 - Mr. I. Craus

Area of compound shapes

A compound shape is a shape that is made up from other simple shapes.

To find the area of a compound shape, split it into simpler shapes (that you are
familiar with) find their area and add everything up.

To find the area of a shaded region, find the unshaded part and subtract it
from the total area of the shape.

Ex.4: Find the area of the following:

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Topic12 – Measures Year 8 - Mr. I. Craus

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Topic 12 – Measures Year 8 - Mr. I. Craus

Nets
A solid shape is a 3 dimensional (3D) object.

A prism is a type of 3D object where its cross-

sectional area is kept uniform throughout the
object. The shape of the cross-sectional area gives
the prism its name. Example, if the cross-sectional
area is a triangle, it is called a Triangular Prim (as
shown on the right).

A pyramid is a type of 3D object where the side are all

triangles that meet at the top (called the apex) and
the base is a flat shape. Example, the Square-Based
Pyramid has a square at the bottom and 4 triangles
that meet at the top (as shown on the left).

A net is a pattern that you can cut and fold to make a solid shape. Example,
the diagram below shows one of the possible nets of a cube.

Ex.5: Cut out the nets of the Square-Based pyramid and the Triangular Prims
and glue them together to form the solid shape.

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Topic12 – Measures Year 8 - Mr. I. Craus

Surface Area
The surface area of a solid shape (3d object) is the total area of the surface of
the object. Example, the surface of a cube is the area of all the 6 faces added
together.

To find the surface area of a cuboid, we use the following formula:

where 𝒍 =′ 𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒉′ , 𝒘 =′ 𝒘𝒊𝒅𝒕𝒉′ & 𝒉 = ′𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕′.

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Topic 12 – Measures Year 8 - Mr. I. Craus

Ex 6a: Calculate the surface area of each of the following cuboids:

Number (a) (b) (c) (d)

Answer

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Topic12 – Measures Year 8 - Mr. I. Craus

Can we use the same formula for a cube? Or can it be simplified further?

Surface Area
=
of a cube

Ex 6b: Calculate the surface area of each of the following cubes.

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