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ERIC Number: EJ790573
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2008
Pages: 3
Abstractor: ERIC
Reference Count: 0
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0045-0685
Tangrams and Constraint-Based Geometry
Hyde, Hartley
Australian Mathematics Teacher, v64 n1 p32-34 2008
Tangrams have sometimes been used as an extension activity intended only to keep faster students busy while others finished essential desk-work. Without adequate introduction, many find that tangrams are just an open-ended form of a jigsaw puzzle. Happily teachers have discovered that games provide an effective introduction to a new topic. In the case of tangrams, students are likely to learn more from their construction than from playing with the finished product. This article describes how students can construct tangrams within a constraint-based geometric (CBG) environment, thereby learning much more than might be gained using scissors and cardboard, while at the same time learning to use the CBG system. The examples used here were constructed using a ClassPad 300 but might just as easily be developed using the Windows-based software package "Geometry Expressions."
Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers (AAMT). GPO Box 1729, Adelaide, 5001, South Australia. Tel: +61-8-8363-0288; Fax: +61-8-8362-9288; e-mail: office@aamt.edu.au; Web site: http://www.aamt.edu.au
Publication Type: Guides - Classroom - Teacher; Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: Teachers
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A