Tangrams

Learners construct tangram pieces. Then they make observations and explore patterns with the pieces.

Challenge the spatial thinking of your young mathematicians with this printable tangram puzzle. Using different sized triangles, squares, and parallelograms, children must figure out how to fit all the shapes together to create a square.

Students practice geometric and spatial principles through the creation of a tangram puzzle. They describe and identify shapes by folding them into the pieces necessary to complete a tangram. Students attempt to assemble their tangrams...

Primary geometers create a picture using tangrams. In this geometry lesson, students read Grandfather Tang: A Tale Told with Tangrams, cut out their own tangrams, and choose a character from the story to make using their tangram pieces.

Students explore tangrams. In this tangrams lesson, students read Three Pigs, One Wolf, and Seven Magic Shapes and then complete a WebQuest on tangrams. Students explore shapes and rotation during the WebQuest and create a new character...

The second half of a two-part study of tangrams introduces first graders to geometry. A tangram template and many ideas are useful for a primary grade instructional activity in flipping and rotating shapes, and using geometric shapes to...

Students explore "area."  In this tangram geometry and measurement lesson, students arrange tangram pieces to find the area of characters presented in a story they listen to on a website.  Website information and related worksheets are...

Mathematicians calculate the area of a tangram piece without using formulas. They use a geometry journal to record activities during this lesson. They make a set of tangrams and use them to compute area. They use what they discover to...

Students listen to the story Grandfather Tang's Story, by Ann Tompert, and discuss tangrams. They also discuss the different geometric shapes used in tangrams. After the shapes are introduced, students create their own designs using...

Students use tangrams, student literature, and Websites to explore shapes.