Origami, Tangrams & Magic Squares
📋 What it is
East Asian mathematics gave us the Lo Shu MAGIC SQUARE (rows, columns and diagonals all sum to 15), plus the geometry of origami and the tangram.
🗣️ Coach says
Geometry you can hold. The ancient Lo Shu is a 3×3 magic square where every row, column, and diagonal adds to 15. Origami folds turn paper into precise geometry (and now helps engineers fold satellites and stents). The tangram splits one square into 7 pieces that recombine into thousands of shapes — a lesson in area and dissection.
🧠 Memory hook
Lo Shu magic square: every line sums to 15. Origami & tangram = geometry you fold and rearrange.
😂 Giggle
Why was the medieval mathematician always cold?
Because he kept working with negative numbers!
😲 Whoa!
Origami math now helps NASA fold huge solar panels small enough to launch, then unfold them in space.
✅ Quick check: In a 3×3 magic square where every row, column and diagonal sums to 15, what must the CENTER number be?
Say your answer out loud first — then reveal.
5.
The center sits on four lines; balancing them forces the middle of 1–9, which is 5.
🧪 Try it! (2 minutes)
Try to fill a 3×3 grid with 1–9 so every row, column and diagonal sums to 15 (start by placing 5 in the middle).