shape fitting

the intention of this task is that students progressively fit shapes together
to form a rectangle at each stage

a while ago, Edward de Bono devised similar shape puzzles to encourage a view that when problem solving, sometimes you need to dismantle what you have done already and start again

there is a powerpoint that reveals the shapes, one at a time

alternatively two students could work together, revealing each new shape (in a column) one at a time (after the first two)
holding another piece of paper over the rest

as this task is/was envisaged, it is important that the shapes are encountered one at a time

students will need some kind of squared paper