Activity: Finding the area of a complex polygon Student page 1

What is the area of the "rabbit" shape below?

Method 1:

 Steps:
  1. Enclose the rabbit in a rectangle.
  2. Figure out the areas of the polygons outside of the rabbit.
  3. Subtract this area from the area of the rectangle.
  4. The area of the rabbit (in square units) is:_______________.
If this is a bit too challenging, watch this video to get you on track. You can also use this Sketchpad file rabbit.gsp* to help you find the area of the rabbit using one of the strategies shown in the video. Additional resource: lattice_grid.pdf

*If you don't have Sketchpad you can create the shape using Geogebra or the math learning center's geoboard.

Method 2:

Another way to find areas of polygons is to use Pick's Rule. Go to Student page 2.