To find the area of rectangles and squares we multiply the sides to each other.
There are two (2) rectangles. Each has one side length of 4 and one of 1.
4*1 = 4
4 * 2 (because there are two rectangles with the same area) = 8
So 8 in. so far.
But there is the square.
2 * 2.
Why is it 2 * 2? Well look at the 2in that is at the bottom of the square portion. That shows one side length. Now look at the 4 in side of the rectangle. Now, to make it complicated, look at the 1 in. portions that are on the right side of the left triangle. There are 2 1 in sections that are taken off of the square.
That means that the side length of the square is 2.
2 * 2 = 4
Now add the area of rectangles and square together.
8 + 4 = 12