Area of Rectangles on a Grid
Skill: Finding area by counting unit squares and multiplying
Download PDF worksheetAnswer key (PDF)
Free for personal and classroom use. Print at 100% / "Actual size" on US Letter paper.
About this worksheet
Area tells how much flat space a shape covers. In this third-grade worksheet, students find the area of six shaded rectangles drawn on a square grid, where each small square is one square unit. The rectangles range from small to fairly large, giving students a reason to move from counting every square to using a faster strategy.
How to use it: at first, let your child count the shaded squares one by one. Then ask them to look at the rows. "How many squares are in one row? How many rows are there?" A rectangle that is 6 squares long and 4 rows tall has 4 rows of 6, which is 24 square units. Helping students notice that counting rows and columns is the same as multiplying the side lengths is the key idea of this worksheet. Remind them to label answers in square units, since area measures squares, not length.
The answer key shows each area along with the multiplication sentence (length × width) that produces it, so students can see how counting and multiplying connect. This worksheet supports Common Core standards 3.MD.C.6 (measure areas by counting unit squares) and 3.MD.C.7.a (find the area of a rectangle by tiling it and show that it is the same as multiplying the side lengths). As an extension, ask your child to draw a different rectangle with the same area on graph paper.
Count and Trace Numbers 1-10
Addition Within 10
Subtraction Within 10