Lesson 5

Represent Products as Areas

Lesson Purpose

The purpose of this lesson is for students to connect multiplication expressions to rectangular areas.

Lesson Narrative

In previous lessons, students counted unit squares to find the area of rectangles. In this lesson they explicitly connect multiplication to rectangular areas. Students match multiplication expressions to rectangular areas, specifically relating the factors of the expressions to the rows and columns of squares in the rectangle. Then, students are given multiplication expressions and create matching rectangles with inch tiles and drawings on grids.

  • Engagement

Activity 1: Match Expressions and Areas

Learning Goals

Teacher Facing

  • Relate multiplication to finding the area of rectangles.

Student Facing

  • Let’s connect multiplication expressions to area. 

Required Materials

Materials to Gather

Materials to Copy

  • Match Expressions and Areas

Required Preparation

CCSS Standards

Addressing

Lesson Timeline

Warm-up 10 min
Activity 1 15 min
Activity 2 20 min
Lesson Synthesis 10 min
Cool-down 5 min

Teacher Reflection Questions

In previous lessons students worked with arrays as a way to represent multiplication. How did students’ previous work with arrays support them in representing products as rectangular areas?

Suggested Centers

  • Capture Squares (1–3), Stage 6: Multiply with 1–5 (Addressing)
  • Rectangle Rumble (3–5), Stage 1: Factors 1, 2, 5, and 10 (Addressing)

Print Formatted Materials

For access, consult one of our IM Certified Partners.

Additional Resources

Google Slides

For access, consult one of our IM Certified Partners.

PowerPoint Slides

For access, consult one of our IM Certified Partners.