A landscape architect planned a flower garden in the shape of a parallelogram. If the base and height are multiplied by \( \frac{1}{2} \) to create a new parallelogram, what is the new area? Round to the nearest unit, if necessary.

To determine the new area of the parallelogram after scaling both the base and height by \( \frac{1}{2} \), let's break it down step by step. ### Original Area The area \( A \) of a parallelogram is calculated using the formula: \[ A = \text{base} \times \text{height} \quad \text{or} \quad A = b \times h \] ### Scaling the Base and Height If both the base \( b \) and the height \( h \) are multiplied by \( \frac{1}{2} \), their new values become: \[ \text{New base} = \frac{1}{2}b \] \[ \text{New height} = \frac{1}{2}h \] ### New Area Calculation The new area \( A' \) of the parallelogram with the scaled dimensions is: \[ A' = \left( \frac{1}{2}b \right) \times \left( \frac{1}{2}h \right) = \frac{1}{4} (b \times h) = \frac{1}{4}A \] ### Conclusion The new area is **one fourth** of the original area. **Example:** - **Original Area**: Suppose the original area was \( 80 \) square units. - **New Area**: \( \frac{1}{4} \times 80 = 20 \) square units. Since no specific numerical values were provided in your question, the general answer is: **The new area is one fourth of the original area.**