Giant Soma Puzzle
by George Hart
At the Museum of Mathematics, we have been developing exhibits and programs in preparation for our December 2012 opening. One program we like is a Giant Soma puzzle made of twenty-seven cardboard boxes, each a two-foot cube. (This can be scaled down for younger groups.) Participants first build the boxes and tape them together to make seven 3D puzzle pieces. Then they work as a group to assemble the pieces into a number of challenge shapes, including a 3x3x3 cube, a sphinx, a tunnel to climb through, and a fourteen foot tall skyscraper. The boxes and tape cost about $100 all together. See below for detailed instructions.
![soma01](https://momath.org/wp-content/uploads/soma01-692x519.jpg)
![soma02](https://momath.org/wp-content/uploads/soma02-692x519.jpg)
![soma03](https://momath.org/wp-content/uploads/soma03-692x519.jpg)
![soma04](https://momath.org/wp-content/uploads/soma04-692x519.jpg)
![soma05](https://momath.org/wp-content/uploads/soma05-692x519.jpg)
![soma06](https://momath.org/wp-content/uploads/soma06-692x519.jpg)
![soma07](https://momath.org/wp-content/uploads/soma07-692x519.jpg)
![soma08](https://momath.org/wp-content/uploads/soma08-692x519.jpg)
![soma09](https://momath.org/wp-content/uploads/soma09-692x519.jpg)
![soma10](https://momath.org/wp-content/uploads/soma10-692x519.jpg)
![soma11](https://momath.org/wp-content/uploads/soma11-692x519.jpg)
![soma12](https://momath.org/wp-content/uploads/soma12-692x519.jpg)
![soma13](https://momath.org/wp-content/uploads/soma13-692x519.jpg)
![soma14](https://momath.org/wp-content/uploads/soma14-519x692.jpg)
![soma15](https://momath.org/wp-content/uploads/soma15-519x692.jpg)
![soma16](https://momath.org/wp-content/uploads/soma16-519x692.jpg)
![soma17](https://momath.org/wp-content/uploads/soma17-519x692.jpg)
![soma-GWH](https://momath.org/wp-content/uploads/soma-GWH-692x519.jpg)