6th grade - Tessellation

Sixth grade is working on the concept of Tessellation. A tessellation is a pattern that interlocks in some way. The patterns we are doing are not true tessellations, but are extremely fun, just the same!

Each student received a planning paper to design four different patters. Using a ruler, marks are placed on all four sides of each 3"X3" square on the planning paper. A design is created in the square that only touches the sides at the designated spots. After tracing one of the patterns onto a separate 3"X3" paper, the student then tests the pattern to see if all sides match up. If all went well, the student can then trace the pattern again on 8 more squares.

As you can see by the images at the top, rotating the squares in various formations will result in many different overall patterns.

Escher and Tessellation

The most famous artist who did tessellation was M. C. Escher. Here are some examples of tessellation done by Escher.

Islamic Mosaics

Islamic Mosaics is another connection to this assignment. In the Islamic culture, images of people are forbidden. Instead, beautifully scripted sayings are interspersed with mosaic tessellations as decorations in homes, shops, and mosques. Below are some examples.