Aim
 The main purpose of  the Geo Girls curriculum is to have middle school students (grades 6th through 8th) gain additional knowledge and understanding of geometric shapes with an emphasis on working with tangrams and the Internet.

Rationale
 Research has shown that students do not test well on geometric concepts.  In our discussion with middle school students they feel that geometry is boring and has no meaning in their lives.  The Geo Girls would like to create an atmosphere that makes geometry fun with hands on manipulatives, show the relationship between geometry and their everyday lives and encourage students to explore geometry from a technological point of view while working with tangram sets.
 After students are comfortable working with and using tangrams language arts will be incorporated into the curriculum.  Students will make a word search and crossword puzzle. They will use Bloom's Taxonomy to write open ended questions to prepare students for the I.S.A.T. examination.

Audience
 This lesson is intended for  middle school students grades 6th - 8th.  It can also be modified to accommodate lower levels from grades K-5 or even  higher levels if it can be incorporated into the curriculum and state goals for that grade.

Pre-Requisite Skills
 Students using this curriculum will be in grades 6th - 8th with various test scores, including some with special needs. Since inclusion is mandatory at all public schools two teachers will be present in some classes.  Students must be familiar with and have some experience with geometry, the technology lab, using URL's and searching the web.  If there are enough computers in your technology lab it is recommended that students work individually to receive the most benefit from these lessons.  Teachers may use their own discretion on whether to group students for these lessons to incorporate cooperative learning.
 

Subject-Matter
 The focus of this curriculum is geometry using the Internet with a major emphasis on angles, area and perimeter.  Language arts and Social Studies activities will be incorporated into some of the lessons.
 

Objectives
Upon completion of this lesson/activities students should be able to:
 use the Internet to search and access given URL's
 investigate the history of geometry
 explore the history and definition of tangrams
 use logical thinking and following directions for problem solving through the use of manipulatives
 solve open ended problems using multiple solutions
 create tangram art pictures for other students to solve
 construct their own tangram sets from paper
 attempt to create the alphabet from a-z and the digits 0-9 using tangrams
 cover half a figure using various shapes and flip and trace and try to cover the other half of the figure using other tangram pieces, then decide if the puzzle can be solved
 find different ways to solve a given tangram puzzle
 cover a square using two, four and five tangrams
 find the area, perimeter and length of given shapes for various activities
 create a word search and crossword puzzle using 20 of the 32 vocabulary terms
 combine tangrams to create right, complementary and supplementary angles
 identify acute, right and obtuse angles using tangrams
 use Bloom's Taxonomy to create problem solving questions
 
State and local standards are listed below
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Instructional Plan

 Activities and questions are provided throughout this curriculum that students can view and work with dealing with geometry, language arts and social studies.  This  is a two week unit consisting of ten forty-five minute lessons.  Teacher will introduce vocabulary terms, review Internet skills, and model geometric shapes using the overhead projector.

Student Activities
Search the Internet with given URL's to find or complete the following:
 answer questions from web pages viewed
 history of geometry
 history and definition of tangrams
 answer questions using vocabulary terms
 creating a word search and cross word puzzle
 solve a word search puzzle using vocabulary terms
 solve a crossword puzzle using vocabulary terms
 quiz using vocabulary terms
 how to make a tangram
 patterns and puzzles using tangrams
 Select a verb from each level of Bloom's Taxonomy to create six questions about one of the tangram puzzles solved and have other students answer the questions.

Use tangram puzzles to complete the following:
 cover a figure with tangram pieces in several different ways, also try to solve the same puzzle using two sets of tangrams to discuss and write which figure was the easiest to solve
 experiment with covering three figures to find out which two figures can be covered simultaneously with one set of tangrams and record their findings
 create shapes from selected URL's on the Internet
 create new puzzles for other students to solve
 name all the acute, right and obtuse angles in the tangram set
 

Additional Activities
Use timers to see how long it will take students to solve a given tangram puzzle and have students estimate how much time it would take to solve other given puzzles.  Students can also have tangram competitions using individuals or groups.
Paste the puzzle pictures to cardboard and laminate them for continuous use.
Write acronyms and poems for tangrams.
Create a 5 foot by 5 foot tangram set to solve puzzles.
Find the latitude and longitude of selected cities in China.

Materials
Computer
Internet
Paper
Pencil
Scissors
Protractors
Rulers (Customary/Metric)
Overhead projectors
Erasable markers
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Evaluation

Student Questionnaire
Pre-Test
1.  What do you know about geometry?
2.  How do you feel about geometry?
3.  What do you expect to learn from this lesson?
4.  Are you looking forward to this lesson?  Explain.

Post-Test
1.  How did you feel about geometry before starting this lesson?
2.  How do you feel about geometry now?
3.  What did you like best about the lesson?  Why?
4.  What did you like least about the lesson?  Why?
5.  If you could change anything about the lesson, what would it be?  Why?
6.  What did you learn from this lesson?
7.  How is this lesson related to your life?

Assessments
Students must pass assessments with at least 70% accuracy.
Vocabulary puzzle
Vocabulary quiz
Vocabulary spelling test
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

URL's used and questions for them
Make sure students answer the questions in complete sentences (not one word answers).
Tangram history
http://www.teleport.com/~sgc/tangrams.htm
Can you guess the 6 animal shapes?
I think the six animal shapes are a scorpion, bird, bear. whale, rabbit and a bird..  (Answers may vary according to what the student may see.)
Who recommends the pattern games?
The International Tangrams Society recommends the pattern games.
http://www.stargraphics.com/tansoc.htm

http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Arcade/1335/tanhist.htm
When was the earliest known Chinese book found?
The earliest known Chinese book was found in 1813.
Who was the tangram puzzle game intended for?
The tangram puzzle game was intended for women and children.
What happened in the 19th century?
Tangrams became popular in the 19th century.
Where did tangrams become popular?
Tangrams became popular in Europe and America.
What types of materials were used to make the tangram sets during this time?
Ivory, wood and fired clay was used to make the tangram sets.

Patterns, Puzzles and Activities
http://www.teleport.com/~sgc/tangrams.htm
http://www.stargraphics.com/pat.htm
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Arcade/1335/puzzle.htm
http://www.edu.org/LTT/ConnGeo/tangrams.html

Tangrams
http://www.careergroup.com/chinesetangrams.html
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Arcade/1335/index.htm

Make a set
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Arcade/1335/makeset.htm
 
 

Tangrams Curriculum Lessons
http://www.kqed.org/cell/golden/tangrams.htm#obj
http://forum.swarthmore.edu/trscavo/tangrams/area.html
http://forum.swarthmore.edu/trascavo/tangrams.html

Ordering Tangram Sets
http://www.sciplus.com/cgi-bin/basket/823032408.47/everything/25694.html

Angles
Right
http://www.utc.edu/~cpmawata/geom/geom3.htm

Congruent Figures and Triangles
http://www.ies.co.jp/math/java/congruent.html

Angle and Parallel Lines
http://www.ies.co.jp/math/java/angle.html

Similar Figures
http://www.ies.co.jp/math/java/similiar.html
http://www.ies.co.jp/math/java/geomisc.html

Create your own puzzle
http://www.puzzlemaker.com

Bloom's Taxonomy
http://officeport.com/edu/blooms.htm
http://www.valdosta.edu/~whuitt/psy702/eogsys/bloom.html