Tri, Tri Again

Briefing

Quick: what shape is pizza? It depends, right? A whole pie is usually round, but then you slice it up into shapes like triangles.

Just like a pizza, any shape can be broken down into a bunch of smaller shapes. Try drawing a square on a piece of scrap paper. Can you divide it into two triangles? Four? Six? Eight?

Once you get the hang of that, you're ready for this Smart Art challenge!

Ready? Go to the activity now!

Activity

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

Outlines of large shapes (you'll want 3 or 4 copies of each)

A triangle rubber stamp and ink pad

WHAT TO DO:

Each sheet of paper contains the outline of a big shape.

Your job is to fill in the shape completely using your triangle stamp.

Before you start, write down how many triangles you think it will take to fill in the whole shape.

Next, start filling in the shape with your stamp. The edges of the triangles should be just touching ? not overlapping.

If you mess up, that?s okay ? just get another copy of the shape and start over.

When you finish, count the number of triangles you needed. Was it more or less than what you guessed?

Move on to a new shape and see if you can guess better. See if you can get it exactly right at least once!

Finished? On to the debriefing!

Debriefing

When you guessed how many triangles it would take to fill the space, were you right? Did you think it would take more triangles than it did? Fewer? Why do you think that is?

If you've got your Case Journals, answer the questions in it now!