We consider the set of triangles in the plane with rational sides and
a given area $A$. We show there are infinitely many such triangles for
each possible area $A$. We also show that infinitely many such
triangles may be constructed from a given one, all sharing a side of
the original triangle, unless the original is equilateral. There are
three families of triangles (including the isosceles ones) for which
this theorem holds only in a restricted sense; we investigate these
families in detail. Our explicit construction of triangles with a
given area may be viewed as a dynamical system in the plane; we
consider its features as such. The proofs combine simple calculation
with Mazur's characterization of torsion in rational elliptic curves.
We discuss the isomorphism classes of the elliptic curves involved.