The Tangram Puzzle
Wooden Tangram Set |
When I saw this tangram set I fell in love with it. I had to order one. When I received it, I was pleasantly surprised how thick these wooden pieces are -they are 1/2 inch thick! They make the most pleasant clinking sound when you are playing with them. We have some plastic sets and have had fun with tangrams before, but these wooden pieces were really fun to play with. After playing with them, following the cards, for awhile, we decided to put them away. But arranging the puzzle pieces of the tangram into just a square so that it could fit back into its box proved to be a difficult task! It took three of us about an hour to figure it out, I am embarrassed to admit! The little boys at one point began to doubt that it actually was a square that fit in that space after all. I decided to make a tangram from a piece of paper to convince them that the square could be made.
A set of tangrams can be made any time you have a square of paper at hand. |
First fold your square in half, like this so the fold line makes two triangles. |
Now tear apart the two triangles along the fold line. |
Take one of the triangles so that the torn edge is at the bottom, and one point is pointing up. Now fold your paper so the points on either end of the torn sides are together. |
You should get two new triangles when you tear them apart along the fold line. Put them aside. |
Now tear along the fold line. Put the little triangle aside with the other two triangles. |
Take one of the two bottom pieces, keeping the longest side on the bottom... |
Fold the longest side so that you get a square on one side and a triangle on the other. |
Now tear the square and the triangle apart and put them aside with the triangles. |
You now should have seven pieces. |
Can you put them back together into a square? |
source:
GEMS: Build It! Festival
Kindergarten-6
9 Activities
224 pages
A wide assortment of classroom learning station activities focus on mathematics relating to construction, geometric challenges, and spatial visualization. Activities connect to the real world and potential careers. Free exploration sets the stage for such mathematical challenges as Create-A-Shape, Dowel Designs, Polyhedra, Symmetry, Tangrams, and What Comes Next? Background on geometry is provided. Special materials required include pattern blocks and polyhedra. Template patterns for folding and constructing shapes and creating tangrams are provided.
9 Activities
224 pages
A wide assortment of classroom learning station activities focus on mathematics relating to construction, geometric challenges, and spatial visualization. Activities connect to the real world and potential careers. Free exploration sets the stage for such mathematical challenges as Create-A-Shape, Dowel Designs, Polyhedra, Symmetry, Tangrams, and What Comes Next? Background on geometry is provided. Special materials required include pattern blocks and polyhedra. Template patterns for folding and constructing shapes and creating tangrams are provided.