When a shape is drawn on a scaled grid you can find the area by counting the number of grid squares inside the shape.

In this example there are 10 grid squares inside the rectangle.

In order to find an area value, using the grid method, we need to know the size that a grid square represents.

This example uses centimetres but the same method applies for any unit of length or distance. You could, for example be using metres.

In this example each grid square has a width of 1mm and a length of 1m. In other words each grid square is one ‘square meter’.

Count the grid squares inside the large square to find its area..

There are 16 small squares so the area of the large square is 16 square meters, abbreviated to ‘square meters’ to m2. The 2 means ‘squared’.

Each grid square is 1m2 and therefore area of the large square is 16m2.