Tarsia Puzzles: Unlimited Possibilities

I Love Puzzles 

I’m that weird person who has barely any games on her phone and tablet. I would rather spend my time reading up on some topic I currently am curious about, or browsing pinterest. But when I do decide that I want to download a game, I ignore all the other categories and go right to the puzzles section of the app store. There is something peacefully competitive about completing a puzzle, and then trying to beat my previous score. It is fun, stimulates my mind, and is relaxing to focus on simply solving one part of a problem at time. I find it odd that I love puzzles so much, considering how much I usually struggle with math concepts. But now I can put math into a really awesome puzzle game, and might actually, *gasp*, go out of my way to do math.

What's the Puzzle?

Last Friday, my class was introduced to Tarsia puzzles. Tarsia puzzles are similar in concept to dominoes, but a bit more complex. Like dominoes, each tile has a number and you must match it with its corresponding number. In class, our Tarsia puzzle was made with equivalent fractions. We had to find the equivalent of each number on the tile, to complete the puzzles shape. Each tile was three sided, and some sides were an edge, so it was missing a number. There was only one way to answer each “match” to create the proper shape, so it was good way to check, and recheck our answers. We sometimes found a number that matched two tiles, and then had to decide which one was the correct match to fit in the puzzle correctly. There was about 20 questions we had to figure out to complete the puzzle.

How Can I Use it in Class?

We worked together as a small group, but this activity could be used as an individual assignment, depending on your class and how much time you have. In my group, it was great to collaborate with each other, finding different matches at the same time, but it also brought up some tension. When we had to decide on how the puzzle looked, or what tile went where, the more competitive group members began to snap at each other. This would be a good team building exercise to explore group dynamics and teach how to collaboratively problem solve. There is lots of room to move on from one question to the next to defuse tension, as well as many different solutions to encourage discussion and collaboration.

In terms of math, after playing with the puzzle for 15 minutes with my group, I was definitely more confident about my equivalent fraction knowledge, as well as refreshing my multiplication skills. I can easily expand and reduce fractions faster, especially after finding about 10 different equivalent fractions in less than 15 minutes. What a fun alternative to text book questions! You can find premade puzzles here and here. If you want to make your own puzzles, try this or this.

What Else Can It Do?

Tarsia puzzles are obviously a fantastic tool for teaching math and breaking out from the textbook. Our puzzle was on equivalent fractions, but you can adapt any math concept into a puzzle. Some ideas I came across were number words, multiplication, and ratios. Considering how flexible the puzzles are to adapt to the math curriculum, I was inspired to think of the other subjects this puzzle can be used to solidify a concept. What if this was used for music theory class? I can see myself using this to teach key words and symbols, enharmonic equivalent notes, or rhythmic values, time signatures, and key signatures. I could have easily learned those concepts much more quickly rather than doing pages and pages of boring questions. Once I started thinking about the possibilities for translating this idea to musical concepts, I thought about other subjects. I found some for English and Science lessons as well. When they are done, students could colour it based on a certain art technique being studied in class. Endless possibilities for the Tarsia puzzle!

Benefits of the Tarsia Puzzle

• Fun alternative to textbook questions
• Ability to fit in 20+ practice questions in one activity
• Give students a goal to answer questions to complete puzzle
• Competitive motivator  
• Collaborative or independent assignment flexibility
• Team building activity for group problem solving skills
• Give students something to show off to the class

Tarsia puzzles are a brilliant way to bring some fun into what could be drudging practice, while giving your students a goal to look forward to mastering the puzzle. When they answer all the questions, they have the satisfaction of a complete puzzle finished, verses a few pages of math question after question. The next step I want to look into is how to adapt the Tarsia puzzle to more complicated math concepts or even word problems.

How would you use Tarsia puzzles in your classroom?