A power point presentation on Polyominoes and Pentominoes Five Times The Fun A power point presentation on Polyominoes and Pentominoes

Polyominoes Made with adjacent squares that share a common edge. 1 square = Monomino, 2 = Domino, 3 = Triomino, 4 = Tetromino, 5 = Pentomino, … Mainly used for recreational purposes. We will focus on Pentominoes

PENTOMINO MANIA Pentominoes are made of 5 squares, each sharing at least 1 common edge with another square. Each arrangement of squares is labled with the letter it looks like. They became famous in the 1950’s and have kept mathematicians busy as they continually find new things they can do.

Fun With Pentominoes There are many challenging puzzles that can be done with pentominoes. There are over 2,339 ways to arrange the petominoes in a 6x10 grid. This is one way 

What is so special about these squares? 60 squares in a set of Pentominoes. The set has the ability to completely cover a square with out any overlap or holes. If there is a cube with that has an edge of 10 units, Pentominoes can cover it completely with only one of each piece. If we “bend” the pieces, it is even possible to fit all 12 pieces onto a sphere with out any overlap. If you are looking for formulas on polyominoes and pentominoes, then this is the site to check out!

Pentominoes make the Cube!

Applications??? Pentominoes are not all fun and games. Art and Design are a major area where polyominoes and pentaminoes are used. When laying tile on a floor or wall, different patterns of polyominoes are also used.

Why are they important? Pentominoes should be taught in school for a couple of very important reasons. Pentominoes are fairly new, only being discovered in 1953, but they are a fun way to get students to think spatially and develop the ability to do mental flips and rotations in their heads. They also show kids that just because you have a different answer, it is not necessarily wrong. Teaching pentominoes can easily tie into other areas of math like perimeter, area, symmetry, and tessalations.

What Next? As of now, most of what Pentominoes are is simply puzzles. However, these puzzles can come to reveal patterns that apply to more than just these suqares. Research on Pentominoes and Polyominoes is ongoing. Mathematicians and scientists are exploring more ways that these unique sets of squares affect our lives.