Pentomino Puzzle Book
|
Pentominoes are 12 piece sets of shapes based on arrangements of 5 one inch squares. Pentomino Puzzles develp logic and reasoning skills, and build spacial awareness. The puzzles on this book vary in difficulty. The easier puzzles are toward the front.
|
|
|
Pages 1 to 20 are beginning puzzles. Puzzles are shown full size with interior lines. An option to increase difficulty would be to have students look at the page, but not build the puzzle directly on top of that sheet. Instead, students would use either no mat or the grid on page 85. The same could be done with any of the puzzles in this book. |
|
| Pages 21 to 27 are animal puzzles where the interior lines are not shown. |
|
| Pages 22 and 24 show interior lines of the animal puzzles on the previous pages. |
|
|
Pages 28 to 41 show groups of pieces that solve the puzzles. These include several different groups of pieces that may be used to solve the puzzles in different ways. Pages 30 to 41 also show a clue (gray) piece and its location in the puzzle. |
|
|
Pages 42 to 47 are path puzzles. The puzzle on this page is called a Tens Path. Lines are drawn around every two pieces. The dividing line between those two pieces therefore, is not shown. Find the penotomino pieces that would fit together to match the puzzle. Do not cover the gray areas of the puzzle.
|
|
| Pages 48 to 54 are called Crazy Windows. The answers are shown at a reduced size on each of these puzzles. Do not cover the gray areas of the puzzle. |
|
|
Pages 55 to 57 show puzzles at a reduced size. Have the student create these puzzles on their desktop. Page 57 is also missing some interior lines to increase the difficulty (not shown on the web). |
|
| Pages 58 to 61 are called Pentoline Puzzles. The placement of pieces is shown using “stick figures” for the puzzles. |
|
|
Imagine which pentomino piece is represented by this
|
 |
|
This pentomino piece is the correct match for the stick figure shown above.
|
|
| Place the pentomino piece on top of the stick figure on the puzzle. |
|
|
Pages 62 to 79 are called Windows Puzzles. The gray squares or rectangles within the puzzles are not to be covered. They are holes or “windows” in the puzzles. These puzzles are more difficult because they have no interior lines. Not all pentomino pieces are used. Pages 80 to 82 are the answers to the Windows Puzzles. They can also be used like pages 55 to 57. Students can build the puzzles without the use of the mat. The answers can be given to younger students working with the Windows Puzzles. |
|
|
Page 83 is a rectangle that uses all twelve pentomino pieces. Page 84 gives three possible answers. There may be more. Page 85 is a blank grid. It is reproducible. It can be used to work on top of while looking at other puzzles. Students may also create their own puzzles on the blank grid. Then they can trace the outlines of the pieces to make a paper copy of their puzzle. |
We knew a teenager, named Joshua, who used a stopwatch to time how long it took him to do the puzzle. Then he handed it over and challenged his dad, Michael, to beat his time!