Area Builder

Area Builder Screenshot
  • Area
  • Perimeter
  • Fractional areas

Topics

  • Area
  • Perimeter
  • Fractional areas
  • Scale factors

Description

Create your own shapes using colorful blocks and explore the relationship between perimeter and area. Compare the area and perimeter of two shapes side-by-side. Challenge yourself in the game screen to build shapes or find the area of funky figures. Try to collect lots of stars!

Sample Learning Goals

  • Find the area of a shape by counting unit squares
  • Describe the relationship between area and perimeter
  • Build shapes with a given area and/or perimeter
  • Find the area of an irregular shape by decomposing into smaller, regular shapes (e.g., rectangles, triangles, squares)
  • Determine the scale factor of similar shapes
  • Generalize how area and perimeter change when scaling shapes

Standards Alignment

Common Core - Math

3.MD.C.5
Recognize area as an attribute of plane figures and understand concepts of area measurement.
3.MD.C.5a
A square with side length 1 unit, called "a unit square," is said to have "one square unit" of area, and can be used to measure area.
3.MD.C.5b
A plane figure which can be covered without gaps or overlaps by n unit squares is said to have an area of n square units.
3.MD.C.6
Measure areas by counting unit squares (square cm, square m, square in, square ft, and improvised units).
3.MD.C.7
Relate area to the operations of multiplication and addition.
3.MD.C.7a
Find the area of a rectangle with whole-number side lengths by tiling it, and show that the area is the same as would be found by multiplying the side lengths.
3.MD.C.7b
Multiply side lengths to find areas of rectangles with whole-number side lengths in the context of solving real world and mathematical problems, and represent whole-number products as rectangular areas in mathematical reasoning.
3.MD.C.7c
Use tiling to show in a concrete case that the area of a rectangle with whole-number side lengths a and b + c is the sum of a × b and a × c. Use area models to represent the distributive property in mathematical reasoning.
3.MD.C.7d
Recognize area as additive. Find areas of rectilinear figures by decomposing them into non-overlapping rectangles and adding the areas of the non-overlapping parts, applying this technique to solve real world problems.
3.MD.D.8
Solve real world and mathematical problems involving perimeters of polygons, including finding the perimeter given the side lengths, finding an unknown side length, and exhibiting rectangles with the same perimeter and different areas or with the same area and different perimeters.
6.G.A.1
Find the area of right triangles, other triangles, special quadrilaterals, and polygons by composing into rectangles or decomposing into triangles and other shapes; apply these techniques in the context of solving real-world and mathematical problems.
Version 1.1.20

Teacher Tips

Download teacher tips PDF Overview of sim controls, model simplifications, and insights into student thinking ( PDF ).

Teacher-Submitted Activities

Games Remote Lesson ideas A gold star indicates high-quality, inquiry-based activities that follow the PhET design guidelines. This contribution was designed by PhET. Trish Loeblein MS
UG-Intro
K-5
HS
Remote
HW
Mathematics
Physics
Chemistry
Scaling Shapes Activity and Lesson A gold star indicates high-quality, inquiry-based activities that follow the PhET design guidelines. This contribution was designed by PhET. Amanda McGarry MS
HS
Guided Mathematics
How do PhET simulations fit in my middle school program? This contribution was designed by PhET. Sarah Borenstein MS Other Earth Science
Physics
Chemistry
Biology
Middle School Math Sim Alignment This contribution was designed by PhET. Amanda McGarry MS Other Mathematics
Exploring Area and Perimeter Jill Minello K-5 Guided Mathematics
MS and HS TEK to Sim Alignment Elyse Zimmer HS
MS
Other Chemistry
Physics
Biology
Border Problem - Intro to Algebraic Expressions Jennifer Moeller MS
HS
Guided
Discuss
Mathematics
Fencing Spaces: Fixed Perimeter, Changing Area Krystle Hapner K-5
MS
Guided Mathematics
Exploring Rectangles (area and perimeter) Conor Doyle K-5 Guided
HW
Lab
Mathematics
Building Area and Perimeter Jasmine Sidana K-5 Guided Mathematics
Creating a Garden Alanna Toomey K-5 Guided Mathematics
Area Builder Lesson Stefanie Akrish K-5 Lab
Guided
HW
Mathematics
Area Builder for grades 3-5 Molly Martin K-5 Guided Mathematics
What's My Area? Rachael Ortega K-5 Lab
CQs
Preguntas de razonamiento para todas las simulaciones HTML5 A gold star indicates high-quality, inquiry-based activities that follow the PhET design guidelines. This contribution was designed by PhET. Diana López UG-Adv
MS
HS
Grad
K-5
UG-Intro
Discuss
HW
Mathematics
Astronomy
Physics
Chemistry
Áreas y Perímetros A gold star indicates high-quality, inquiry-based activities that follow the PhET design guidelines. Yarely Mariana Vela Soberanis MS
K-5
HW
Guided
Mathematics
SECUNDARIA: Alineación PhET con programas de la SEP México (2011 y 2017) This contribution was designed by PhET. Diana López MS
HS
Other Mathematics
Biology
Physics
Chemistry
PREPARATORIA: Alineación de PhET con programas de la DGB México (2017) This contribution was designed by PhET. Diana López HS
UG-Intro
Other Mathematics
Physics
Chemistry
PRIMARIA: Alineación con programas de la SEP México (2011 y 2017) This contribution was designed by PhET. Diana López K-5
MS
Lab
Guided
Discuss
HW
Demo
Physics
Chemistry
Mathematics
Astronomy
Mali majstor za površine Anita Sečan Other Guided Mathematics
Veliki majstor za površine Anita Sečan Other Other Mathematics
Área de figuras planas por meio do OA - Construtor de Áreas Arianny de Sousa Lira, Márcio Matoso de Pontes e Juscileide Braga de Castro K-5 Lab Mathematics
Figuras Semelhantes Prof. Ms. Ana Paula Rodrigues Alves / Prof. Dr. Francisco Régis Vieira Alves MS Guided Mathematics
Área de Figuras Planas Maria Helena de Andrade MS Lab
HW
Guided
Mathematics

Language Download or Run Tips
Albanian All shqip Run now Ndërtuesi i syprinës
Arabic All العربية Run now بناء المساحة
Basque All Euskara Run now Azalera eraikitzailea
Bosnian All Bosanski Run now "Majstor" za površine
Chinese (Simplified) All 中文 (中国) Run now 区域建造者 Download teacher tips PDF
Chinese (Traditional) All 中文 (台灣) Run now Area Builder_周長與面積
Croatian All hrvatski Run now Graditelj površine
Danish All Dansk Run now Arealbygger
Dutch All Nederlands Run now Een oppervlakte bouwen
Finnish All suomi Run now Pinta-alan rakentaja
French All français Run now Constructeur d'Aire
Georgian All ქართული Run now ფართობის მშენებელი
German All Deutsch Run now Flächen belegen
Greek All Ελληνικά Run now Περίμετρος & Εμβαδόν
Gujarati All Gujarati Run now ક્ષેત્રફળ બનાવો
Hebrew All עברית Run now בונה שטחים
Hindi All हिंदी Run now क्षेत्रफल निर्माण 
Hungarian All magyar Run now Területépítő
Irish All Gaeilge Run now Tógálaí Achair
Italian All italiano Run now Disegna un'area
Japanese All 日本語 Run now 図形の面積
Kannada All Kannada Run now ಪ್ರದೇಶ ನಿರ್ಮಾಣ
Kazakh All Kazakh Run now Фигуралардың конструкторы
Korean All 한국어 Run now 면적 생성기
Latvian All Latviešu Run now Figūru laukumi
Malayalam All Malayalam Run now പരപ്പളവ് നിര്‍മാണം
Maori All Maori Run now Hangaia he Horahanga
Marathi All मराठी Run now क्षेत्रफ़ळ शोधा
Mongolian All Монгол (Монгол) Run now Талбай байгуулагч
Norwegian Nynorsk All Norwegian Nynorsk Run now Arealbyggar
Persian All فارسی Run now سازندۀ مساحت
Polish All polski Run now Budowniczy powierzchni
Portuguese All português Run now Construtor de Áreas
Portuguese (Brazil) All português (Brasil) Run now Construtor de Área
Russian All русский Run now Конструктор фигур
Serbian All Српски Run now "Мајстор" за површине
Sinhalese All Sinhalese Run now වර්ගඵලය ගොඩනඟමු
Slovak All Slovenčina Run now Staviteľ plochy
Slovenian All Slovenščina Run now Ploščina in obseg
Spanish All español Run now Constructor de Áreas Download teacher tips PDF
Spanish (Mexico) All español (México) Run now Constructor de Áreas Download teacher tips PDF
Spanish (Peru) All español (Perú) Run now Constructor de Áreas
Spanish (Spain) All español (España) Run now Constructor de áreas
Swedish All svenska Run now Bygg area
Tamil All Tamil Run now பரப்பளவு கட்டுபவர்
Turkish All Türkçe Run now Alan Oluşturucu
Ukrainian All українська Run now Будівник площі Download teacher tips PDF
Vietnamese All Tiếng Việt Run now Diện tích

HTML5 sims can run on iPads and Chromebooks, as well as PC, Mac, and Linux systems.

iPad:
iOS 12+ Safari
iPad compatible sims

Android:
Not officially supported. If you are using the HTML5 sims on Android, we recommend using the latest version of Google Chrome.

Chromebook:
Latest version of Google Chrome
The HTML5 and Flash PhET sims are supported on all Chromebooks.
Chromebook compatible sims

Windows Systems:
Microsoft Edge, latest version of Firefox, latest version of Google Chrome.

Macintosh Systems:
macOS 10.9.5+, Safari 9+, latest version of Chrome.

Linux Systems:
Not officially supported. Please contact phethelp@colorado.edu with troubleshooting issues.

Design Team Third-party Libraries Thanks To
  • Karina Hensberry (lead)
  • John Blanco (developer)
  • Bryce Gruneich
  • Amanda McGarry
  • Ariel Paul
  • Kathy Perkins
  • Beth Stade
  • almond-0.2.9.js
  • easing-equations-r12
  • FileSaver-b8054a2.js
  • fontawesome-webfont-3.0.2.svg
  • game-up-camera-1.0.0.js
  • jama-1.0.2
  • jquery-2.1.0.js
  • lodash-2.4.1.js
  • pegjs-0.7.0.js
  • seedrandom-2.4.2.js
  • text-2.0.12.js
  • Tween-r12.js