Teaser and introduction goes here. Sample problem here.

Finding the area of parallelograms means you need to count the number of unit squares inside the parallelogram. This is a bit more difficult than the rectangle since the parallelogram cuts many of the unit squares into fractional pieces.

However, we can rearrange the parallelogram into a more familiar figure without changing its original area. Then we can find the area of the familiar figure, which will have the same area as the parallelogram.

In this parallelogram, you can cut the triangle from the left of the parallelogram and move it to the right side of the parallelogram, making a rectangle. We know the formula for finding the rectangle’s area is base • height, so the area of this shape is 8 • 5, which is 40 square units.

Basically, to find the area of a parallelogram you use the same formula as with rectangles.

A = base • height

A = bh

Notice that the lengths of the slanted sides of the parallelogram do not have any affect on the area of the parallelogram.

Self-Check