Difficulty: Rating: GCSE Marks:

GCSE Text:
Larissa wants to paint two walls in her lounge with the following measurements:

a)  What is the total area of wall that needs to be painted?

Larissa wants to apply 2 coats of paint, and each pot of paint covers an area of 40m².

b)  How many pots of paint will she need to buy?

Suggestions:
A practical application of compound area. Students often don’t realise that doors or windows don’t get painted, so healthy discussion often flows around practical DIY skills as well as the Maths involved.  As a foundation level video, all dimensions are in the same units. This often works well to consolidate previous compound area skills, and takes around 10 minutes. It is often useful to stress the importance of logical clear workings with this question.

Extension Ideas:
Teachers could extend the learning by considering:

• George is a professional painter & decorator, and charges £30 per day plus £5.95 per m².  How much would it cost Larissa to get George to do apply two coats of paint to her lounge (which should all be done in 1 day)?