Tessellation Sensation

Explore the art of M.C. Escher and create tessellations to help students see the connection between math and art, learn geometric transformations and practice art elements like line and balance.

The word tessellate comes from the Greek word "tesseres," which means "four." As students enter your classroom, ask them to look at the floor or ceiling tiles and use math terms to describe them.

Share a few examples of tessellations create by Escher. You might consider using:

• Development I, 1937 (rotation)
• Day and Night, 1938 (reflection)
• Sky and Water I, 1938 (translation)

Then ask, What does the artwork have in common with the floor or ceiling tiles in the classroom?

Now, ask students to use Wixie's paint tools and object options to create their own tessellations.

Assign the Holiday Tree activity for step-by-step directions for creating a rotation tessellation.

Holiday Tree Tessellation Activity

Students can also start a new blank project and follow help directions for creating rotation or reflection tessellations.

Print the images for an at-school or in-community art exhibit. Host a "Meet the Artist" event where students act as docents to share the work of M.C. Escher, as well as explain how they created tessellating artwork in his style.

Math Standards

8.G.A.4. Understand that a two-dimensional figure is similar to another if the second can be obtained from the first by a sequence of rotations, reflections, translations, and dilations; given two similar two-dimensional figures, describe a sequence that exhibits the similarity between them.

Consortium of National Arts Education Associations

In grades K-12 all students should:

understand the visual arts in relation to history and cultures.

make connections between visual arts and other disciplines.