Understanding how to calculate area is important to understand at the early age of 8-10. Calculating area is a pre-algebra skill that should be well understood prior to beginning algebra. Students by grade 4 need to understand the early concepts of calculating the area of a variety of shapes.

Formulas for calculating area use letters which are identified below. For example the formula for the area of a circle will look like this:

A = p r <sup>2

This formula means that the area is equal to 3.14 times the radius squared.</sup>

The area of a rectangle would look like this:

A = lw

This formula means that the area of the rectangle is equal to the length times the width.