Tatami mats are traditional Japanese floor coverings made from woven straw and a soft, padded base. They have been used in Japanese homes for centuries and are often found in tea rooms, temples, and ryokan inns. Tatami mats are usually rectangular but are arranged in specific patterns to form square or rectangular room layouts.
Traditionally, their dimensions are based on a 2:1 ratio, meaning two tatami mats together often form a square shape. Today, however, we’re going to use a square cracker to make our tatami mats.
You’ll start by getting a stack of Graham Crackers and break them in half to make a stack of Squares.
When you’ve broken your crackers into squares, eat one of your squares.
Do you think you have an even or odd number of squares now? ____________
How many do you think you have? ____________ How many do you actually have? _____________
Can you arrange your remaining squares so that they form one big square ? ____________
How many Grahams do you need to eat to make it a square? ____________
How many are left? ______________. How many squares is on each side of your square?
Now take some more Grahams and break the into more squares.
- Create a tatami layout using your graham crackers. Try to follow the traditional 2:1 ratio.
- Count how many total crackers you used and determine if they form a perfect square.
- What is the square root of the total number of graham crackers in your layout?
