Area, perimeter and volume: maths lessons by year

What's taught, year by year

The steps in area, perimeter and volume, in the order children usually meet them. Years are named as in Australia; the ages are a guide.

Perimeter: measure the distance around a shape. Measure each side of a shape and add them to find its perimeter.
Area: count squares to measure the space inside. Cover a shape with unit squares and count them to find its area.
Area in square centimetres and square metres. Use cm² and m² as standard square units and choose the right one.
Area of a rectangle using rows and columns. Find the area of a rectangle by multiplying the number of rows by the number of squares in each row.
Find the perimeter of rectangles and missing sides. Use the side lengths of a rectangle to find its perimeter, or a missing side from the perimeter.
Same area, different perimeter. Make rectangles with the same area but different perimeters, and the other way round.

Area of shapes made of rectangles. Split an L-shape or other rectilinear shape into rectangles and add their areas.
Perimeter of rectilinear shapes. Work out missing side lengths and the perimeter of L-shapes and other rectilinear figures.
Area and perimeter formulas for rectangles. Use A = l × w and P = 2(l + w) to solve problems with rectangles.
Estimate the area of irregular shapes. Count whole and half squares to estimate the area of a curved or irregular shape.

Area of a right-angled triangle. See a right-angled triangle as half a rectangle and halve the rectangle's area.
Volume: count cubes to measure space inside a solid. Fill or build a solid with unit cubes and count them to find its volume.
Volume in cubic centimetres and cubic metres. Use cm³ and m³ to measure and compare volumes.
Volume of a cuboid: length × width × height. Multiply the three edge lengths of a cuboid to find its volume.
Volume of solids made from two cuboids. Split a solid into two cuboids and add their volumes.
Capacity and volume: 1 mL is 1 cm³. Connect liquid volume in a tank to cubic centimetres and litres.

Area of any triangle: half base times height. Use base and perpendicular height to find the area of any triangle.
Area of a parallelogram. Rearrange a parallelogram into a rectangle to find its area as base × height.
Area of trapeziums and composite polygons. Split trapeziums and other polygons into rectangles and triangles to find area.
Volume with fraction edge lengths. Find the volume of a cuboid whose edges are fractions by packing smaller cubes.
Surface area from nets. Unfold a solid into its net and add the areas of the faces.
Circles: circumference and area. Use π to find the distance around a circle and the area inside it.