Tangram in Tinkercad Codeblocks

Tangram is a squared puzzle consisting of seven flat polygons. It can help children learn geometric shapes, develop problem solving abilities and enhance creativity. It is not difficult to make tangrams with a piece of paper. Why does this activity use programming to make tangrams? What will students learn from this?

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That's coding principles, mathematical concepts and the restriction of programming!

Later, you are going to have the tangram coding. Why not making a 3-dimentioanal tangram? Just modify something! Then, create as many puzzles as you can and share them with friends! Have fun!

Tinkercad Codeblocks

Which shape in tangram should be made first? Why?

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If students know the relationship between the side and area of each shape, they are likely start with a square first. Or, have students learn more by comparing different approaches.

Now, we start with a square, and its side length is 10. Then, make a triangle, but there are only two shape blocks - roof and wedge - in the toolbar. Maybe they're not the triangles you want because you want to modify their side lengths or something. So, what should we do?

This is not an ideal way to make different triangles. But when making an isosceles right triangle △ACD in step 4, it may be a better approach. We use the overlapping method to cut the square ABCD in step 1 into an isosceles right triangle △ACD in step 4. Yes, we need to do it one more time to get another isosceles right triangle △ABC.

In step 3, it is recommended to make a transparent square HIJK with sides equal to the hypotenuse HK of the triangle △ACD, so the distance the square HIJK moves is equal to half the length of its side. Here, the Pythagorean theorem is used to calculate the hypotenuse HK. (You may use other shapes to cut the square ABCD in step 1, but you need to pay attention to the distance the shape moves.)

For primary school level, it is recommended to guide students to think about the relationship between shapes and the feasibility of various methods, and provide them with the side lengths of triangles.

For secondary school level, it is recommended to guide students to use the Pythagorean theorem to find the length of hypotenuse.

It is believed that students have created the isosceles right triangle, and then they can make a tangram by using Copy, Rotate, Move and Create Group in toolbar. Have Fun!

There are some unwanted lines (marked with purple circles) between the shapes when making the tangram. It is suggested to use both △ABC and △ACD to finish the tangram, instead of using one of them (as mentioned in Step 3: Make an Isosceles Right Triangle). Two triangles should be the same, but they are likely to be affected by the calculation of square root and thus have an error.

You've got the tangram coding. Why not making a 3-dimentioanal tangram? You just have to modify the height to make a 3D tangram. It can help students learn 3D shapes and develop sense of space and orientation. You can go to my Instructable to get more information about making 2D and 3D Tangrams using origami and cardboard. Have Fun!