Finding the area of rectangles or, given the area, finding the lengths of the sides.

Sometimes shapes are made up of two or more rectangles. These shapes are known as compound or composite shapes. To find the area of a shape like this you need to divide it into rectangles.

How to find the area of a parallelogram. Note: drawings are not to scale.

Finding the total area of composite shapes by working out the area of rectangles and triangles within them.