Tangrams are almost certainly the best known and most widely available geometric puzzle in US classrooms. They are inexpensive, available from many publishers, and there is a vast number of accessible tangram puzzles on the Web. On this site, I share tangram-based activities which prioritize geometric insight.
Tangram Puzzles is a freely downloadable book to use before, after, or alongside the below.
Tangrams in the Classroom
An activity you can do prior to handing out plastic tangram sets (or before using virtual tangrams): Tearing Tangrams.
Hand out the sets so that neighbors have different-colored sets. This makes it more difficult for pieces to migrate to a different bag. It also makes it more obvious if a student "cheats" by using a piece from another set.
For students to familiarize themselves with the seven pieces you can ask them to make two-layer tangram figures, using three or more pieces. (In other words, create pairs of congruent figures. For example, cover the square with the two small triangles.)
In Geometry Labs (free download), Section 2 is all about tangrams, with activities involving measurement, vocabulary, symmetry, and convexity.
- Possibly useful image for Lab 2.2
- Comments about, and extension of Labs 2.3 and 2.5: Convex Tangram Polygons
- Solution to part of Lab 2.5: the 13 convex 7-tangram figures
- See also Lab 10.6 on tangram similarity.
You can use my Virtual Tangrams if you need to project solutions on a screen, or create images for handouts.