VO: Ambrose is an apprentice at the world famous Grecian Pizza Parlour. Today he’s decorating the upstairs restaurant for a sweet sixteen party. It looks good doesn’t it? Ambrose’s boss is bringing a heavy box up from the basement. It’s part of his plan for how to make teenagers have a smashing time.
Pizza Boss: This is my secret weapon. To make the party go with a swing-a-ding-ding, first of all they eat the pizza. Then we dance a little dance. Dance-a the dance. And then, we smash-a the plate.
VO: Cool! Ambrose thinks teenagers will love that.
Pizza Boss: I want everyone to have a smash-y good time, so put the plates three-deep around the perimeter.
VO: Ambrose’s boss wants him to lay out the plates in piles of three, all around the perimeter of the room.
Ambrose: What's the perimeter?
Pizza Boss: The perimeter is the outside of the shape, like the room. The area is the inside. Perimeter outside, area inside. Perimeter outside, area inside. Perimeter outside, area inside. You got that.
Ambrose: I've got that.
Pizza Boss: Good boy, you're on your own.
Ambrose: Perimeter outside, area inside.
VO: Ambrose knows now, the perimeter is the line around the outside, the area is all of the inside.
Ambrose gasps
Wow those boxes are heavy – he doesn’t want to have to lug too many of them up the stairs. What you thinking?
Ambrose: I'm thinking I might have to use some maths here. How do you work out a perimeter?
VO: To find the perimeter of a rectangular room, you need to measure the length and double it. Then measure the width, and double that, and add the answers together. Perimeter equals length times two plus width times two.
Ambrose: Hey I might be able to work that out. Hey, and I'm gonna use plates.
VO: Ambrose is measuring the restaurant in plates. He measures one side by counting how many plates long it is.
Ambrose: Thirty.
VO: The restaurant length is 30 plates long. Now he does the same on another side. And the restaurant is 20 plates wide. Once Ambrose has worked out the perimeter, and how many plates he'll need to go round it three deep, he can work out how many boxes to bring up. But it’s quite tricky maths.
Ambrose: I need help.
VO: If the rectangular restaurant is 30 plates long and 20 plates wide, how many plates will Ambrose need to go around the perimeter once?
How many plates does he need to go around the restaurant three deep?
A box holds 80 plates. How many boxes does Ambrose need to bring up from the basement?
Using the plate perimeter measurements, how many plates would be needed to fill the floor area of the restaurant?
Video summary
The Grecian pizza parlour boss brings up from the cellar a box of 80 ‘smashing plates’ that must be arranged in piles three deep around the perimeter of the restaurant.
The guests will smash them at the end of the pizza party after the dancing.
Apprentice Ambrose’s boss explains the difference between area and perimeter.
Perimeter is ‘the distance round the outside edge’ and area is the ‘space inside’.
Ambrose must work out how many plates he needs and how many boxes to fetch.
Ambrose also learns the quick way of finding the perimeter of a rectangle as (2 x length) + (2 x width).
He measures the restaurant in plates.
Three questions of increasing difficulty are asked about area and perimeter based on the pizza parlour scenario.
This is from the series: Let's Do Maths.
Teacher Notes
There are three differentiated questions based on the scenario to be solved as a whole class or as individuals.
The questions build from one step to multi-step word problems.
This clip will be relevant for teaching Maths at KS2 in England and Wales, Second Level in Scotland and KS1 and KS2 in Northern Ireland.
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