Tessellate the Triominoes

Why do this problem?

In this challenge, visualisation is the key. The visualisation is required in two ways: to plan ahead (in other words - if I put this triomino here, will I be able to fit another one in easily?); to turn the triomino in their mind's eye to decide which orientation is needed for a particular gap. As they tackle this problem, pupils should be encouraged to devise a system for filling the grid without leaving any gaps. This may not come easily to some and you might need to bring their attention to spaces that cannot be filled.

Key questions

Possible extension

Children might enjoy having a go at the Covering the Camel.

Possible support

A good starting point is to ask children to fit just two triominoes together without leaving a gap between them. This might help some to visualise more easily how the pieces could be fitted into the grid and to explain why some grids might be impossible to fill.