PentominoesTask 66 ... Years 4 - 10SummaryA story shell in a family context is used to introduce some classic spatial problems which use a set of tiles, each made from five joined squares. The difficulty of the challenges increases and those listed on the card are only a sample of the possible problems that can be built around these pentominoes. |
Materials
Content
|
IcebergA task is the tip of a learning iceberg. There is always more to a task than is recorded on the card. |
A seemingly endless collection of puzzles has developed around these 12 pentomino pieces and those on the card are just a few. To assist in describing solutions, the shapes can be assigned a capital letter of the alphabet which is suggested by their shape. What letters would the students suggest for each shape? Solutions to the card are: Question 1 Additional problems include:
|
Whole Class InvestigationTasks are an invitation for two students to work like a mathematician. Tasks can also be modified to become whole class investigations which model how a mathematician works. |
A pentomino set for each pair is one way to turn this task into a whole class investigation. Multiple sets can be purchased, or you could use the drawing or table tools of a word processor to quickly create a master copy. Solution 3 above could be the template. Another approach is to use this task in a work station, probably with other spatial tasks, and rotate students through the station over a period of time. Keeping a class 'wall journal' near the work station helps each group of learners build on the work of previous groups. At this stage, Pentominoes does not have a matching lesson on Maths300. |
Is it in Maths With Attitude?Maths With Attitude is a set of hands-on learning kits available from Years 3-10 which structure the use of tasks and whole class investigations into a week by week planner. |
The Pentominoes task is an integral part of:
|