You’re part of a colorful crew on an alien spaceship. Each crewmate has a list of tasks to do. But there’s a catch: At least one of you is an
This is the
How might the
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Courtesy of Inner Sloth
Math,
Wild for Among Us
A game continues to bring friends together—even while social distancing
By Jessica McKenna-Ratjen
From the May/June 2021 Issue
Learning Objective: Students will find the area of irregular shapes related to the maps in a video game.
Courtesy of Inner Sloth
Video Games: Then and Now
Watch a video about the history of video games.
Courtesy of Inner Sloth
The game’s creators think the social distancing and
Among Us is played similar to how a murder mystery is played. Players need to communicate and cooperate. So when friends play Among Us, it can feel like they’re all in the same room.
Emerson Janes, a fifth-grader in Tarrytown, New York, started playing Among Us last fall. Before the pandemic, he and his friends liked to play games in person. With that no longer possible, Among Us seemed like a good
“We play it together when we have free time at school on Fridays,” Emerson says.
The team at InnerSloth is still working on updates and improvements for Among Us, such as a new map, or playing field, and more supported languages.
“Whenever you allow people to connect, be creative, and have fun,” Tran says, “it keeps the game feeling fresh and exciting every single time.”
Area and Perimeter
Watch a math helper video about how to find the area and perimeter of real-world shapes.
Area of Irregular Shapes
What to Do
The area of a square or rectangle can be found by multiplying its length by its width. To find an irregular shapeʼs area, you can partition it, or divide it into more than one part. Then combine the areas of the different parts to find the total.
Example
Find the area of the shape below.
- First, partition the shape into two rectangles. There can often be more than one way to do this.
- Next, find the area of each rectangle. You can use the formula A = l × w, or count the unit squares.
- Finally, combine the two areas to find the total area of the shape.
20 square units + 6 square units = 26 square units
So the total area of the shape is 26 square units.
Now You Try It
A. On the Polus map in Among Us, the shape below represents a storage room.
B. Find the
C. What is the total area?
Polus has a communications room, represented below. What is the area of this room?
On the Polus map, an administration room is represented by the shape below. What is its area?
The balcony on the MIRA HQ map has a total area of 26 square units. Find the missing wall measurements below.
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