Tangrams can be used to teach concepts such as perimeter, area, and angles. See these resources for ideas and activities:
- An Archimedes Lab Project webpage posts a table from Gianni A. Sarcone and Marie-Jo Waeber’s MateMagica: Giochi d’ingegno con la matematica that gives formulas for the perimeter and area of each tan. (Molfetta, Italy: La Meridiana, 2015. ISBN 9788861535176.) https://www.archimedes-lab.org/tangramagicus/pagetang3.html
- Martin Saunders posted a diagram of the angles and side lengths of each tan when arranged in a square. http://martingsaunders.com/2017/01/using-dabs-cats-teach-maths/
- Deanna Rigdon, Jolyn Raleigh, and Shari Goodman suggest activities for Grades 3-4 that involve area, perimeter, and angles in “Tackling Tangrams.” Teaching Children Mathematics, Vol. 6, No. 5 (January 2000), pp. 304-305. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41197425
- Charlotte Duke in her article, “Tangrams and Area,” leads students in using three triangles to form five polygons and compute the area of each polygon. Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, Vol. 3, No. 7 (MAY 1998), pp. 485-487. https://www.jstor.org/stable/41180543
- Hand2Mind’s “The More, the Better” explores fractions, areas, and equivalence in convex tangram polygons. https://www.hand2mind.com/glossary-of-hands-on-manipulatives/tangrams OR https://images.salsify.com/image/upload/s–gWH3xZVc–/q8xtgvevtnwgorc3crzm
- Dorothy S. Russell and Elaine M. Bologna, in “Teaching Geometry with Tangrams,” cover a range of geometry lessons, including congruence, equivalence, angles and degrees, and the Pythagorean Theorem. The Arithmetic Teacher, Vol. 30, No. 2 (October 1982), pp. 34-38. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41192134