The square metre is a unit of area and is an SI derived unit with the symbol m².
It was introduced in 1954 when the International System of Units was established and was derived directly from one of the original 6 base units - the metre (m).
It can be prefixed with any of the SI symbols that multiply it up or down such as km² (square kilometre) or µm2 (square micrometre). It is the most commonly used unit of area and is recognised all over the world.
The square centimetre is a unit of area and is a multiple of the square metre; an SI derived unit. It has the symbol cm².
A square centimetre is equal to the area of a square with edges 1cm long. There are 10,000 square centimetres in a square metre.
It is often used to describe areas smaller than 1m² - including much work in classrooms on paper.