Grade 5 Area and Perimeter Practice Worksheet: Rectangles and Squares

Student Task

• Hand this worksheet out after you have introduced the formulas for perimeter and area of
• a rectangle (2 × (length + width), and length × width) using the accompanying PowerPoint
• or your own instruction. Students can work through Parts A and B independently as guided
• practice, then complete Parts C and D with a partner if they need more support. The bonus
• challenge in Part E works well as an early-finisher task or as a whole-class discussion at
• the end of the lesson. Review answers as a class using the answer key, asking students to
• explain their reasoning for at least one question rather than only stating the final number.

Classroom Use

• Pair Speaking Challenge: In pairs, one student secretly chooses a length and width for a
• rectangle (using whole centimetres between 3 and 15) and tells their partner only the
• perimeter and one side. The partner must calculate the missing side and the area, then
• both students check the shape together by drawing it on grid paper.

Differentiation

Support: Provide a printed word bank (length, width, perimeter, area, square units) and
allow students to use a ruler to trace over each diagram before calculating. Reduce Part D
to the first three rows and allow calculators for students who have already shown they
understand the method but need support with multiplication facts.
On-Level: Students complete all parts as designed, showing their working for every question.
Challenge: Ask students to create their own version of the Part E bonus question using
different measurements, calculate the answer themselves, and swap with a partner to solve.

Answer Key & Assessment

Completed worksheet, checked against the answer key
Observation during paired work on Part C and the Classroom Activity
Exit ticket: ask each student to write one perimeter formula and one area formula from memory

Learning Objectives

• Students will be able to calculate the perimeter of a rectangle or square given its side lengths.
• Students will be able to calculate the area of a rectangle or square given its side lengths.
• Students will be able to work backwards from a given perimeter or area to find a missing side length.
• Students will be able to record measurements with the correct unit, including square units for area.
• Students will be able to apply area and perimeter reasoning to a simple composite (subtracted) shape

Teacher Tips

Before students start Part C, ask a volunteer to explain out loud what "working backwards"
means in their own words. Students who can calculate perimeter and area forwards sometimes
freeze the first time they are asked to reverse the process — a quick verbal check avoids
this and takes less than a minute.

What's Included

• 2-page student worksheet (Parts A–E, 13 questions total)
• Fully worked answer key with matching diagrams
• Editable DOCX version of the worksheet and the answer key
• Print-ready PDF of the worksheet
• Print-ready PDF answer key

Additional Files

• Area and Perimeter.docx (DOCX)
• Answer Key (Printable) (PDF)

Teacher Reviews