1-4-5 Foursquare Puzzle Challenge

This year, Thursdays inwards my classroom were really Brain Teaser Thursdays.


This has been a lot harder than I anticipated.  Now, I beloved encephalon teasers.  But, there's a definite divergence inwards the encephalon teasers I honour engaging too my students are interested in.  I've constitute quite a few though that kept them busy too intrigued.  I've decided I demand to spider web log most them earlier I forget which ones worked too which didn't.

On my schoolhouse computer, I solely direct maintain iv bookmarks: Remind, a site amongst trig lesson plans, a site that makes printable flashcards, too a site amongst puzzles/brain teasers to solve.

This foursquare puzzle that I'm most to spider web log most came from the puzzle site.  I'll present you lot how the site presented the puzzle.  Then, I'll present you lot how I did it inwards bird amongst my students.

Source: http://www.puzzle.dse.nl/teasers/index_us.html 
I knew that if I projected this movie on the board, my kids would hold upwardly less than interested.  I needed to impress off the pieces for them too then they could really manipulate the pieces amongst their hands.  I don't know most you, simply I would direct maintain no clue how to instruct most solving this without printing off the pieces...


For my source stream class, I pose this epitome into a file 4-to-a-page too printed it on orange bill of fare stock.  I fed that bill of fare stock through my mini laminator to brand the pieces durable plenty to end a twenty-four hours amongst vi classes of high schoolhouse students.  My source lx minutes was tasked amongst cutting apart the puzzle too solving it.  This agency my source lx minutes saw the foursquare made amongst 1 slice too the foursquare made amongst 4 pieces.  They had to combine these to brand i foursquare amongst 5 pieces.

The students claimed the puzzle was impossible.  I promised them it wasn't.  Eventually i educatee was able to figure it out.  I had my students pose their pieces inwards a ziploc pocketbook for the subsequently classes.  One of my students wrote Algebra 1 on the bags.  But, I used this activity amongst my Algebra 2 too trig classes, too.


As my subsequently classes trickled in, I instructed them to choice upwardly a pocketbook from the forepart desk too await for farther instructions.  Many of my students assumed that the shapes inwards this pocketbook were tangrams.  On the source twenty-four hours of school, I had students examine to brand a foursquare using all seven tangrams.


Now that the pieces were already jumbled inwards a bag, I could modify upwardly my instructions.  Instead of quest students to direct maintain the unmarried foursquare too the foursquare made out of iv pieces too build a foursquare out of all 5 pieces, I broke the puzzle downward into 3 mini-challenges.  This worked MUCH, MUCH, MUCH better.  The students who didn't successfully consummate the tertiary challenge withal had the satisfaction of completing the source ii challenges.  



Challenge 1:  Using i piece, brand a square.  

Every educatee could hold upwardly successful at this challenge!  

Challenge 2:  Using precisely iv pieces, brand a square.  

Some of my students saw how to do this correct away.  Others took a footling to a greater extent than time.  That was perfectly okay.  

Challenge 3:  Using all 5 pieces, brand a square.  

This genuinely was a challenge for most of my students.  The thought that a small-scale foursquare could hold upwardly added too the pieces would withal brand a foursquare was kinda mind-blowing.  Honestly, it blows my mind, too.  

Some kids tried to brand the foursquare amongst iv pieces too lay the unmarried foursquare on travel past times too claim that they had made a foursquare amongst all 5 pieces.  Later inwards the day, my instructions became to a greater extent than precise to avoid this stimulate at overlapping pieces.  

This made a dandy five-minute bird opener.  It got my students a chip agitated too frustrated.  But, I stance these equally practiced things to spill out inwards math class.  I volition direct maintain students that are agitated too frustrated over students who are lethargic too couldn't attention less whatever twenty-four hours of the week.  

Want to download the files to impress these yourself for your students to use?  Click here.  

I'm hesitant to ship service the solution picture, simply I'm going to.  But, don't hold upwardly surprised if I modify my hear inwards a few hours too direct maintain the solution off.







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