Learning with MieTsumi

Learning with MieTsumi

Think with a drawing or physical blocks first, then build and move the model to check.

Combine hands-on play with a movable model

Physical blocks let learners feel how pieces stack and change their own position to look from another side. Drawings ask them to imagine the parts they cannot see.

MieTsumi complements those experiences. Its blocks do not shift or fall, the model can rotate freely, fixed viewpoints are always available, and See-through or Wire can reveal hidden structure.

It is an open-ended tool, not a lesson, answer generator, or scoring app.

Discover a hidden block

The model below contains five blocks, but only four are visible from the first angle. A blue block is hidden beneath the upper white block.

  1. Look at the first image and decide whether any blocks may be hidden.
  2. Build the same model in MieTsumi.
  3. Switch to Back and locate the blue block.
  4. Return to Angle and use Wire to inspect the same position.
Four white blocks visible from an angle, with a blue block hidden beneath the upper block
Start by thinking about the angled view.
The model from the back, revealing a blue block beneath the upper white block
Move to the back to reveal the hidden block.
The model in Wire mode, revealing the outline and position of the hidden blue block
Use the outlines to examine depth and overlap.

Color can act as a marker: paint a block to follow it between viewpoints or to make an explanation easier to see.

Count by vertical stacks

Once the hidden structure is understood, count the blocks in each vertical stack. The Antenna turns each stack height into the same number of short lines.

In this example, one stack has two lines and three stacks have one line each. Together, 2 + 1 + 1 + 1 gives a total of five blocks.

A block model with one group of two Antenna lines and three single lines, representing five blocks in total
Add the Antenna lines from every stack: 2 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 5.

The Antenna lines are not blocks. Their number represents the height of each vertical stack.

Compare viewpoints and color

The same model creates a different outline from the front, side, and top. Rotate freely to explore, then use a viewpoint preset to make a consistent comparison.

A colored block may also disappear behind or beneath another block. In this example, the blue block comes into view from the left.

The block model from the front, where the blue block is hidden
Front
The block model from the left, where the blue block is visible on the lower level
Left
The block model from the top, showing four occupied positions
Top

Compare light and shadow

The Full Version’s Light mode lets you move a light source around the same model and compare the resulting shadows. A shadow generally extends away from the light source.

A yellow light source to the right of the blocks, with shadows extending to the left
Light on the right casts shadows to the left.
A yellow light source to the left of the blocks, with shadows extending to the right
Light on the left casts shadows to the right.

A suggested activity sequence

  1. Think about a drawing or build with physical blocks first.
  2. Decide on an answer or prediction.
  3. Build the same model in MieTsumi.
  4. Use rotation, viewpoints, color, See-through, Wire, or the Antenna as needed.
  5. Explain what changed and why.

The goal is to use the movable model to check an idea, not to skip the thinking that comes before it.