Mathematicians use pentominoes pieces to create rectangles. The first tiling problem using the 12 pentominoes was designed by mathematician Henry Dudeney and published in 1907.The most challenging rectangles to create are ones that use all 12 pieces. Suprisingly, there are many ways to do this... but we haven't found any yet. It is possible to make a 6x10, 5x12, 3x 20, and 4x15 rectangle. Will, Henry, Caleb, and Aiden are working hard to find all different size rectangles. If families are interested in trying this at home, the kids are welcome to take home a package of pentomino pieces for exploration. We'd love to hear about what you find out!
Wow, you guys are learning so much! And the pentominos look like they would be fun to work with. Wouldn't it be cool if you had GIANT pentominos and could get the perimeter of the school...!!!
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