Final answer:
The estimated area of the circle is 4 times smaller than the area of the larger square.
Step-by-step explanation:
The estimated area of the circle can be determined by comparing it to the surrounding larger square and the smaller square. The larger square has dimensions of 8 inches x 8 inches, which means it has an area of 64 square inches. The smaller square, which the circle fits inside, has dimensions of 4 inches x 4 inches, so it has an area of 16 square inches. The ratio of the areas is 64/16 = 4.