ScholaFly

MA21-08 Maths Coming soon

Estimate the area under a curve using trapezia

MA21-08

This lesson is coming soon.

In this lesson

Estimate the area under a non-linear graph by splitting it into trapezia (and triangles), and interpret the resulting area in context.

What it covers

  • Splitting the region under a curved graph into a sensible number of trapezia and/or triangles
  • Reading axis scales correctly before calculating any areas
  • Calculating the area of each trapezium/triangle strip using the trapezium area formula and summing them
  • Interpreting the total estimated area in context (e.g. area under a speed-time graph = estimated distance travelled)

Key words

For: AQA GCSE 8300, Edexcel GCSE 1MA1, Eduqas GCSE C300

On the specification

BoardSpecStatement
AQA GCSE 8300R15Interpret the gradient at a point on a curve as the instantaneous rate of change
Edexcel GCSE 1MA1R15Interpret the gradient at a point on a curve as the instantaneous rate of change; apply the concepts of average and instantaneous rate of change (gradients of chords and tangents) in numerical, algebraic and graphical contexts (this does not include calculus)
Eduqas GCSE C300HR16Interpret the gradient at a point on a curve as the instantaneous rate of change; apply the concepts of average and instantaneous rate of change (gradients of chords and tangents) in numerical, algebraic and graphical contexts
For teachers

This GCSE Maths lesson teaches estimate the area under a curve using trapezia. By the end, students should be able to estimate the area under a non-linear graph by splitting it into trapezia (and triangles), and interpret the resulting area in context. It works through one worked example and the mistakes examiners report.