World of Tan 6 - Junk
Can you fit the tangram pieces into the silhouette of the junk?
Problem
This activity follows on from World of Tan 5 - Dragon.
Now that the new year has started, business at Granma T's is slowly picking up. They have done some small jobs and deliveries so far this year, and the first big removal is underway.
Mr Cheung, the local restaurateur, is closing down his old restaurant. He and his family are moving onto an island in the bay. There, he is opening his new restaurant under the same name - 'The Golden Goose'.
The children and all the workmen are already at his old restaurant. Little Fung is packing away all the plates, bowls and glasses as well as the cutlery. She is being extra careful - all damages have to be paid for! Meanwhile, Little Ming is stacking all the tins of food and boxes of fruit into crates. The workers have finished loading the furniture into the van. The gas, the water and the electricity have all been disconnected.
Everyone must now meet up with Mah Ling at the dockside, as only she knows where Mr Cheung's new business is located. She also has the ferry tickets.
In the meantime, complete the silhouette of the junk they are about to sail in.
Extra activities:
- Investigate different ways of packing plates, bowls and glasses into boxes so that they won't break.
- Look up what 'junk' means in this situation.
The story continues in World of Tan 7 - Golden Goose.
Teachers' Resources
Why do this problem?
This problem is an engaging context in which pupils can consolidate their knowledge of the properties of squares, triangles and parallelograms. By attempting this activity, children will be putting into practise their visualising skills, making guesses about where the different shapes might go before trying out their ideas. When combining the shapes to make the tangram, pupils will use their understanding of translations, reflections and rotations to decide how to transform each shape. There are also links between tangrams and fractions, and children can be encouraged to work out what fraction of the whole square is represented by each smaller shape.
Possible approach
Read this story with the whole class and look at the tangram as a group. Ask pupils to suggest where a shape might go. What transformation would be needed to move the shape into that position?
When pupils are solving the tangram, they would benefit from working in pairs with a tablet or a printed copy of the shapes to cut out and move around. Working together will lead to rich discussions about the possible options for where each shape can go. When the children have solved the tangram, they can have a go at the extra activities.
At the end of the lesson, bring all of the pupils together and model the solution on the whiteboard. How does each shape need to be transformed? What fraction of the whole picture is each shape?
Key questions
What could you put with this piece to make a square?
Are all of the pieces different?
What's the smallest square you can make?
What has to go in that space? How do you know?
Possible extension
Pupils could have a go at other tangrams in the 'World of Tan' series. Some children might like to create their own tangram from the same pieces, or make their own tangram pieces by cutting up a square.
Possible support
Some children might need encouragement to experiment and 'have a go'. Using the printable tangram pieces will help all pupils try out their ideas.