#4541. Tessellations

Mathematics, level: Middle
Posted Thu Mar 31 07:21:19 PDT 2011 by Kristin Lovenberg (Kristin Lovenberg).
Stockton College, New Jersey
Activity Time: 30 Minutes
Concepts Taught: Math in Art & Real-World Situations

Objective: SWBAT imitate the work of M.C. Escher by creating tessellations using the 3 basic attributes of tessellations and one of three types of tessellations then identify tessellations and their types given a worksheet.
Grade level: 6
Procedure:
Anticipatory Set: Create a K-W-L Chart. Ask students what they already know about tessellations and what they would like to know about tessellations.
Present material: To introduce our lesson on tessellations, we will explain the 3 basic attributes for tessellations. First, tessellations are repeated patterns. Ask student to find an example of repeated patterns in the room. Second, tessellations have no gaps and shapes do not overlap. Third, tessellations can continue on a plane forever.
Shown slides using PowerPoint of M.C. Escher's work to show students how tessellations are used in art. Explain that there are 3 types of tessellations (reflection, translation, and rotation) and show examples of each in PowerPoint.
Guided Practice: Using http://www.jimmcneill.com/demo.html, explain to students how to make tessellations on their own.
Independent Practice: Allow students to find a partner and create their own tessellations. Once finished, students will present the tessellations to the class and they must explain how their M.C. Escher-inspired artwork fulfills the 3 basic attributes for tessellations.
Closure: For closure, students will receive a worksheet with multiple pictures on it, They must circle the pictures that are proper tessellations. For the images are not tessellations, they must explain why they believe the images are not tessellations. If the image is a tessellation, they must explain whether it is a rotation, reflection, or translation tessellation. We will collect the worksheets as a formative assessment.
To end the lesson we will ask students to help us fill in the "L" portion of the K-W-L chart.
Materials:
• Scissors
• Construction Paper
• Worksheet
• PowerPoint
• Crayons
• Dry Erase Markers (for KWL chart)
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