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The word 'tessera' in Latin means a small stone cube. They were used to make up 'tessellata' - the mosaic pictures forming floors and tilings in Roman buildings.
A tessellation is created when a shape is repeated over and over again covering a plane without any gaps or overlaps.
Now the term has become more specialized and is used to refer to pictures or tiles, mostly in the form of animals and other life forms, which cover the surface of a plane in a symmetrical way. without overlapping or leaving gaps, like in this example.
designs by M.C. Escher
 | Identify and construct figures that tessellate. |
| Investigate which regular polygons tessellate and how to modify them to make other tessellating figures. |
| Create original tessellations using the Paint program |
| Create tessellations using turns, slides, flips and glides |
What Shapes will Tessellate?
There are only 3 regular geometric shapes that will. 'Regular', means that all sides and internal angles are equal. These are the equilateral triangle, square and hexagon.
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Step #1 Go to the Virtual Manipulative site and work through a number of activities to become more familiar with creating tessellations. (click on List Activities on the top Right of the page)
Step #2 Shapes That Tessellate
Select a picture to download (right-click on the picture, clicking on 'Save Picture As', and save it into your folder. Open the picture in the Paint program.)
Step #3 Create Tessellations using MS Paint
| Have a look at tessellations created by students |
| Follow these steps to create your own original tessellation. Save your tessellation to your folder. |
(If you need help with using the Paint program this website will give you step by step instructions to follow)
Insert your tessellation to a word document. Give it a title. Hand in for assessment. (Rubric)
Step #5 Tessellation (Turns, Slides, Flips, and Glides)
Use the program EXPLORING TESSELLATIONS (Vol.1 - ICT Data- math folder)
| Open the tessel.exe file |
| Click on Tessellation Tutorial to get a good understanding of the program. |
Now go back to the Main Menu and Select EXPLORE TESSELLATIONS. Once you have a good understanding take the quiz.
Go back to the Main Menu and Select CREATE NEW TESSELLATIONS.
| Pick your favorite pattern and create your tessellation using the full screen |
| Click Print Screen |
| Open the Paint program |
| Click Paste |
| Save your tessellation as a JPG |
| Insert it into a word file and give it a title
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Evaluation
C1.2.1, C4.2.3, C6.2.1, C62.2, C7.2.2
