CTC II Summary 11/26/2012

Let's Tessellate!

Most of us are familiar with the famous artist M.C. Escher, who is often regarded as the father of modern tessellations.

Following on from our discussion on Symmetry last week, we took a look at Tessellations in class on Monday.

Tessellations (also known as "tilings") are patterns created using repeated, identical shapes.  These geometric designs completely fill an area without any gaps or over-lapping. 

The work of developing tessellations integrates both math and art, and requires us to flex our abstract/critical thinking skills, and our understanding of spatial relations.

Students practiced a basic translation method to develop their own tessellation shapes from regular polygons (square, triangle, or hexagon).  They should continue to work on designing their tessellations at home over the course of the next few weeks.  We will share our final designs in class in the coming weeks, and it is my hope that we can turn one or more of these tessellations into a design for Mosaic Freeschool t-shirts!  Very fitting, don't you agree?  (<: