Tangram Problem of the Week

Period 4:
If you'd like to do POWs as extra credit, email me at MrJoeck@gmail.com.

Periods 2 and 5:
Either on paper or online, answer the questions from the mathforum.org Problem of the Week site. Online, go to http://mathforum.org/pows/ to log in using your ID and password from class. If you don't know them, email me at MrJoeck@gmail.com to get them. The assignment is due on Thursday at 8pm. (If you're doing it on paper, I need it by 3:15 on Thursday before I leave school.)

Problem of the Week: Tangrams

Tangrams have been a popular puzzle for a long time. A set consists of one small square, one parallelogram, and triangles of three different sizes. All seven pieces can fit together to form a large square.


1. How many of the small triangles would it take to cover the large square?
2. Pretend that each small triangle costs 5¢, based on its area. How much would each of the other pieces cost?
3. What would be the value of the complete set?

Be sure to explain how you solved the problem.

If you don't have a set of Tangrams to use for solving this problem, you can print and cut out the pieces at http://mathforum.org/pow/support/funpow/tangrampieces.html

You may wish to use the Virtual Tangrams from the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives (http://nlvm.usu.edu/) to help you solve the problem.
Extras:

What fraction of the area of the large square is each piece?
What percent of the total area of the large square is made up of triangles? Explain.