Weird Shapes - T2 - 4(a)

			Most shapes are not made up of squares, but are weird!! How do you find the area of a strange shape like this? It helps if you put the shape onto a grid of squares.


We can count squares as before, but it is difficult to where part of the shape does not cover all of a particular square. One way is to count whole squares first. These are marked with a 'w'. Then count squares that are more than half-covered. These are marked with an 'x'. Here the shape's area is about 8 cm². Remember this is only an estimate.


			That is OK if there are about the same number of squares that are less than half covered and more than half covered. A better way of estimating is to first count the whole squares, then group partly covered squares together to make whole numbers of squares. Here, whole squares are marked 'w': there is only 1 whole square. The squares marked 'tick' together make 1 square. The squares marked 'cross' together make 3 squares. The squares marked 'dot' together make 1 square. The squares marked 'small square' together make 2 squares. About 8 squares are covered. As each square is 1 m long, the area = 8 m².