Paddock Fence Planner

The farmer had a big job for the team. A new paddock needed a fence, and the herd needed to know how much grass it would have.

Spike and Suzy measured with a long tape. "Thirty metres along this side," said Spike. "Twenty metres up that side."

"It's a rectangle," said Suzy. "Opposite sides are the same."

Little Thunder held the tape in his teeth. "So how much fence do we need?"

"That's the perimeter," said Spike. "The distance all the way around. Thirty plus twenty plus thirty plus twenty."

"A hundred metres!" said Little Thunder.

"And the grass is the area," said Suzy. "The space inside. Thirty times twenty."

"Six hundred square metres," said Spike.

Just then, Ottawa the cow came over. "Could the paddock reach the creek? We'd love some shade by the water."

They added a smaller piece in the corner, ten metres by ten metres. Now the paddock was shaped like a capital L.

"L-shapes are tricky," said Little Thunder.

"Split it into two rectangles," said Suzy. "Six hundred square metres for the big one, plus ten times ten for the small one."

"Seven hundred square metres of grass!" said Little Thunder. "Much more room for lying down."

Next came the fence posts. One post every five metres, and each post cost four dollars. Spike walked the whole new perimeter and counted. "We need twenty-four posts."

"Twenty-four times four dollars," said Suzy. "Ninety-six dollars. The budget is one hundred."

"Four dollars left over!" said Little Thunder. "Enough for a gate sign."

When the fence was finished, the herd wandered in. Ottawa lay down in the shade by the creek and sighed happily.