• The Mathematical Education
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.375-387
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• 2010

The focus of this article is the strategies young children use to solve rectangular covering tasks before they have been taught area measurement. seventy nine children from Grade 1 to 4 were observed while they solved various array-based tasks, and their drawing and explanation were collected and analyzed. Children's solution strategies were classified into incomplete covering, inadequate array, array constructed from moveable unit, measurement of one dimension, measurement of two dimension, and calculation. Implications for the learning of area measurement are addressed.