How to Make a Square Tangram Out of Five Pieces

A set of tangrams consists of seven geometric shapes including one small square, one parallelogram, two small triangles, one medium triangle and two large triangles. The ancient Chinese puzzle is used in mathematics classes to recognize and build other shapes and polygons from these seven shapes. Students are challenged to make these shapes using two, three, four, five, six and all pieces of the puzzle. In this example, five tangrams can be combined to create a square.

Things You'll Need

• Set of tangrams

Instructions

1. Position the medium-size triangle so the longest edge, opposite from the right angle is parallel to your body. The two acute triangle angles are facing to the left and right.

2. Place one small triangle so that it's edge opposite the right angle is touching the upper right side of the medium size triangle.

3. Lay the square along the small triangle edge that is parallel to the bottom of the medium triangle and your body. One side of the square and the right side of the small triangle comprise one full side of the combined tangram square.

4. Position the parallelogram so that one long edge is touching the open edge of the medium triangle and the parallelogram's short edge is touching the open side of the small square.

5. Complete the combined tangram square by laying the final small triangle so the right angle of that small triangle is the corner of the combined tangram square and the long edge is laying along the open long edge of the parallelogram.

References

• Educational Experience: Tangrams
• University of Texas at Dallas: Geometric Shapes -- Tangram Activities