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Rectangle Tangle
Age 7 to 11
Challenge Level 
Why do this problem?
This activity gives the pupils opportunities to use and develop their visualising skills in conjunction with the knowledge of fractions. It's quite a contrast to just dealing with fractions numerically.
Possible approach
The pupils will most likely need to have had some previous experience of the shapes involved. Print out copies of this sheet to give to learners so that they have the image in front of them and can add marks to it, should they wish.
Key questions
What shapes have you found?
How big is this shape?
Which is the biggest/smallest shape?
Tell me how you found this out?
Possible support
The should probably be plenty of resources available for many children while with others you would want them to ask for particular resources to help them. Placing resources in front of same pupils seems to tell them that they should be using them, when you really want them to use their own ideas and make their own choices. Some children may find it helpful to see the image on squared
paper:
Possible extension
Encourage the pupils who have well with the challenge to create their own problems for others to solve.
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