I assume you are referring to the average end area method. In this method you essentially take the average of two areas and multiply that average by the distance between the areas.
The equation is actually in the name: "Average end areas"
V=[(A1+A2)/2]*L
where A1 and A2 are the actual end areas, and L is the distance between the areas.
As a simple example, if you have one cross section that is 50 s.f. and one cross section that is 150 s.f., while the sections are 50 feet apart, you have 5000 c.f. of volume between the sections.