Magna-Tects at HelloBee love playing with pretend ice cream! They made a 3-D ice cream cone and used their play kitchen as an ice cream stand.
They also made a 1-D, flat ice cream cone and traced it on a sheet of paper! Fun!
Category Archives: Magna-Tiles Math
Pentagon-Shaped Iyokan Citrus Fruits
Farmers in Japan created pentagon-shaped fruit!
The iyokan citrus fruits or “Gokaku no Iyokan” were handed out as a good luck charm for students in the upcoming entrance exams season in Yawatahama, Ehime.
Cool! Count the sides of the cross-sectional view!
We can find cool shapes and colors all around us!
Look how the fruits are inside a pentagon-shaped frame!
Source: DailyMail.co.uk
Semi-Regular Tessellation
A Semi-regular tessellation is made of two or more regular polygons. Q: What two Shapes do you see in the pattern below?
A: The Equilateral Triangle and Small Square!
Magna-Tiles Tessellations
A Tessellation is a tiling of shapes that fit perfectly together. There are no gaps or overlays! When the Tessellation is made by repeating one Shape (a regular polygon) in a pattern we call it a Regular Tessellation. When the tiling is made of two or more regular polygons, we call it a Semi-Regular Tessellation.
There are three regular polygons that can make Regular Tessellations: equilateral triangles, squares, and hexagons!
We can demonstrate the three Regular Tessellations with Magna-Tiles!
Equilateral Triangles
Small Squares
Hexagons
Cool Patterns! When two or more Shapes are used in a Tessellation, we call it a Semi-Regular Tessellation.
Magna-Tiles Connect: In Real Life, find Tessellations all around you in architecture, everyday objects, nature, math, and science!
Colorful Squares in Art
Rectangles in the Sidewalk
Hexagons in Tiling
Squares in a Fence
Challenge Children to make a Magna-Tiles Mosaic!
DIY Light Box
Look at this baby snow leopard playing with Magna-Tiles on a DIY light box in a teepee with a flashlight…!
Challenge your Children to make the shape of the teepee pictured with #magnatiles. It is a Square Pyramid!
Make a DIY light box with a clear plastic container and place lights you may have around your home/classroom inside! A tip from the creator: Taping parchment paper inside the lid of the clear bin helps to diffuse the light of the mini bulbs we used in the light box pictured.
Thank you Magna-Tects!
Happy 2014!
Happy New Year Magna-Tects! Make a Magna-Tiles Message on a light table by laying Shapes Flat.
Play and LEARN! Challenge your Children to find the Area of the Shape of 2014.
Magna-Tiles Hexagonal Pyramid
This Hexagonal Pyramid was built outside on a snow day! See more Hexagonal Pyramids in Magna-Tiles Creations! Play and LEARN!
Wreath
We made a Magna-Tiles Wreath with Eight Right Triangles in the Shape of a Ring!
We often think of an assortment of leaves, flowers, twigs, and fruit as decoration hung on doors, trees, and houses around the holiday season. Are you familiar with the other definitions of Wreath? The first known use of the word is before the 12th century!
From Merriam-Webster.com, Wreath (noun) means:
- something intertwined or arranged in a circular shape: as
- A. a band of intertwined flowers or leaves worn as a mark of honor or victory
- B. a decorative arrangement of foliage or flowers on a circular base
2. something having a circular or coiling form
Play and LEARN with your children! Discuss where else you see circular shapes throughout your day! Make connections between math and the real world. Do any logos or objects with a Circular Shape come to mind? What about foods like a bagel or donut?!
Here are some ideas from Magna-Tects: an onion ring, the Chase Bank logo, the ring worn on your finger, rings of a tree, and the Olympic Rings!
Learn more about the word Wreath and view other flat, 2-D Shapes to make with Magna-Tiles!
Left and Right!
Play and LEARN with your children while you make new shapes!
Similar versus Congruent Shapes
Magna-Tiles Math! Demonstrate geometry terms and concepts with Magna-Tiles for hands-on, visual learning.
Can we Describe two Shapes as Congruent even if they are positioned differently? Yes!
Are two Shapes Similar if one is flipped, turned, or moved over? Yes!
Pyramids
Many Magna-Tiles castles are decorated with pyramids at the top! Did you know that pyramids are named after the shape of their BASE!?
This Triangular Pyramid = EQUILATERAL triangle as a base
Square Pyramid = small square as a base
Challenge your children to make a triangular pyramid and a square pyramid using equilateral triangles as the sides! Would these pyramids be TALLER or SHORTER than pyramids with isosceles triangles as sides? Visualize what it would look like and then make it with Magna-Tiles to find out if you are right!
Magna-Tiles Challenge
How can we make the same shape using ONLY triangles??
We can use right triangles instead of squares! Two right triangles (parts) cover one small square (whole)!
One right triangle is half of a square. We need four right triangles! Play and LEARN!
Describe what changed from the first to second design.
Show me where there is a vertical line of symmetry.
Sesame Street: Changing Shape
Watch as this shape changes from a circle, to a square, triangle, rectangle, trapezoid, pentagon, hexagon to octagon. Can you make all of these shapes with Magna-Tiles?
Magna-Tiles Right Triangle
Magna-Tiles Hexagon
This Magna-Tiles Shape is a Hexagon! It has 6 Sides and 6 Vertices.
We call it IRREGULAR because all of the sides are not the same length and the angles are not equal. When all Sides are Equal and all Angles are Equal, we call it Regular.
Make this Shape! Pieces Needed:
- 4 Right Triangles
- 2 Small Squares
This Shape reminds us of a football! Challenge your Children: What Shape would we make if we removed the 2 Small Squares from the middle? Practice Visualization!
Think… we would have 4 Right Triangles connected with each of their hypotenuse facing outward. Each hypotenuse is the same length… that means that the Shape will have four equal length sides. You can also look at the Irregular Hexagon and visualize Half of each Small Square being taken away. This is because we know that 2 Right Triangles put together makes 1 Small Square!
Visualize what this would look like in your head… and then make it with Magna-Tiles!
Answer: A Square!
Magna-Tiles Square
The Square is a Quadrilateral and a Regular Polygon!
Magna-Tiles Hexagonal Pyramid
Visualize what this Shape looks like as a flat pattern:
Magna-Tiles Hexagon
This Magna-Tiles Shape is a Hexagon! It is a six sided polygon.
This is a REGULAR hexagon because all of the sides are equal and angles are equal! If all of the sides are not the same length and the angles are not equal, we would call it a IRREGULAR hexagon.
This Shape reminds us of a pizza! Make a #magnatiles pizza pie! Pieces Needed:
- 6 Equilateral Triangles
Magna-Tiles Octagon
Where else can we find Octagonal Shapes?
Magna-Tiles Triangles
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