Fun with Alge Tiles

      complete the square?

Okay. So we were having fun with alge tiles and in a way we do appreciate how it can be a useful tool. Then Mr Tan was sharing that while algediscs might be readily available, we would need to custom make alge tiles ourselves if we would like to use them.

So while we were measuring the dimension of the tiles that were used in class (its 1 by 1cm, 1 by 10cm and 10 by 10cm by the way), we came across an idea to improvise on the design.

      visual aid for visual people

Instead of using Red for the positive terms and Blue for the negative terms, we can try keeping Red for the positive terms but white for the negative terms instead. This way, when we cover the red tiles with the white tile, it would look like that the portion of the tile is gone.

And to enhance the effect, we can leave out the labels '-x, -1...' 

Anyway there are many designs of alge tiles out there and here's a 3D one...

In any case, alge tiles can be fun and when used appropriately can help to, as wikipedia puts it, allow students to better understand ways of algebraic thinking and the concepts of algebra.

Here's some creative art work by students using alge tiles. (but they paid attention and did all the questions in class)

Group 5