Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
of Tessellation
Contents
Defining Tessellation.......................................................................................................... 3
Tessellation within the Primary School Curriculum........................................................... 3
Useful Vocabulary for Tessellation ..................................................................................... 3
Prior Knowledge Required for Understanding the Mathematics of Tessellation................ 4
Useful Resources for Teaching Tessellation........................................................................5
Progression in Learning about Tessellation......................................................................... 5
1. Tessellation by Repeated Use of One Regular Shape........................................6
2. Tessellation by Repeated Use of Two or More Regular Shapes....................... 9
3. Tessellation of Triangles and Quadrilaterals..................................................... 11
Preparatory Knowledge for Understanding the
Tessellation of Triangles and Quadrilaterals.............................11
(a) Tessellating with Triangles................................................................ 12
(b) Tessellating with Quadrilaterals.........................................................14
4. Tessellation of Irregular Shapes obtained by Mutation of
Tessellating Shapes.........................18
The designs of M.C. Escher.................................................................... 19
5. Tessellations involving other irregular shapes.................................................. 21
Use of ICT in Teaching Tessellation................................................................................... 23
Resources
Hexagonal Tiling Mats.......................................................................................... 25
Square Tiling Mats - 1........................................................................................... 26
Square Tiling Mats - 2........................................................................................... 27
Square Tiling Mats - 3........................................................................................... 28
Useful References: Tessellation...........................................................................................29
Defining Tessellation
A tessellation can be defined as the covering of a surface with a repeating unit consisting of one
or more shapes in such a way that:
there are no spaces between, and no overlapping of, the shapes thus employed,
and
the covering process has the potential to continue indefinitely (for a surface of infinite
dimensions).
The application of tessellation aspect is often seen in schools and features in most
published mathematics schemes. However, the mathematics of tessellation aspect is often
overlooked. This results in poor progression with children often repeating the pattern-colouring
activities they have undertaken in previous years of their schooling. Moreover, such children
have little idea of why some combinations of shapes tessellate while others do not.
The mathematics of tessellation aspect should focus on providing children with the
knowledge and skills to explain why tessellation is or is not possible for particular units of
shape. It is this which is the basis of good practice for teaching tessellation.
That said, it is very worthwhile to show children real-life examples of the application of
tessellation. Brick walls, paving, wall and floor tilings, woodblock floors, carpets, wallpapers,
wrapping papers, textiles and works of art are often useful resources for whole-class or group
discussions about tessellation as a concept and about its application in everyday life. Typical
activities when using these might be to identify the repeating unit of shape used to create the
tessellation, to explain why the tessellation works, to consider other ways of tessellating the
given surface or to develop mental visualisation skills (e.g. as part of a mental/oral starter or
plenary within the daily mathematics lesson). Using resources of this kind demonstrate to
children the value and purpose of understanding the mathematics of tessellation and thus
provide an incentive and reason to learn about it.
different.
Children will also need to know the names and properties of common two-dimensional shapes.
Exterior
angles
Interior
angles
The interior angles of regular polygons (i.e. not other polygons) can be calculated in one of
two ways:
1 Divide a whole turn (360) by the number of exterior angles (= the number of sides)
to find the size of one exterior angle. Then use the fact that
the exterior angle + the corresponding interior angle = 180
(because angles on a straight line add up to 180) to find the interior angle.
e.g. for a regular pentagon (5 sides, so has 5 exterior angles)
the exterior angle = 360 5 = 72
so the interior angle = 180 - 72 = 108.
2 The sum of the interior angles of a n-sided regular polygon = (n - 2) 180.
Once the total has been calculated in this way, the size of one of the interior angles
can be found by dividing by the number of interior angles (= n).
e.g. for a regular pentagon (5 sides, so has 5 interior angles)
The Mathematics of Tessellation
regular pentagons
The Mathematics of Tessellation
regular heptagons
6
regular octagons
2000 Andrew Harris
All of the above conclusions can be reached by simply trying each regular shape in turn. It is
much harder, however, for children to be able to explain why it is that, of all the regular shapes,
only the equilateral triangle, the square and the regular hexagon will tessellate.
At this point the prior knowledge outlined on page 4 must be utilised. The key piece of
knowledge here is that a whole turn around any point on the surface is 360.
The vertices of six equilateral triangles meet at Point A. Each of the interior angles of the
equilateral triangles is 60.
60
60 60
60 60
60
The sum (total) of the angles around Point A is 6 60 = 360. This fact is true of all such
points where the vertices of six equilateral triangles meet and thus the equilateral triangles will
tessellate.
An alternative way to look at this idea is to note that 6 complete equilateral triangles can meet
at a common vertex at any point on the surface to be covered (because 360 60 = 6, a whole
number) and without any gaps being left or any overlapping occurring (because 360 is exactly
divisible by 60).
[Note that it does not matter what size the equilateral triangles are (as long as they are all
congruent) since the angles will still be 60 whatever the length of the sides.]
This tessellation may be represented by the abbreviated notation 36 (signifying that six threesided regular polygons meet at a common vertex). Note this does NOT mean three to the
power six in this context. You may wish to avoid this notation when working with children
because of the potential for confusion with the more usual interpretation of this as three to the
power six. It is included here because of its usefulness for the speedy notation of tessellation
patterns involving regular shapes.
The same idea can be applied to the tessellation of squares and of regular hexagons:
Point B at which the vertices
of the four squares meet.
90 90
90 90
The total of the angles around Point B is 4 90 = 360. Since this is true of all such points
where the vertices of four squares meet this explains why squares tessellate.
Alternatively, the four complete squares can meet at a common vertex at any point on the
The Mathematics of Tessellation
7
2000 Andrew Harris
surface (because 360 90 = 4) and without any gaps being left or any overlapping occurring
(because 360 is exactly divisible by 90).
This tessellation may be represented by the notation 44 (four four-sided regular polygons meet
at a common vertex).
120
120
The total of the angles around Point C is 3 120 = 360. Since this is true of all such points
where the vertices of three regular hexagons meet this explains why regular hexagons tessellate.
Alternatively, three complete regular hexagons can meet at a common vertex at any point on the
surface (because 360 120 = 3) and without any gaps being left or any overlapping occurring
(because 360 is exactly divisible by 120).
This tessellation may be represented by the notation 63 (three six-sided regular polygons meet at
a common vertex).
However, if we use a similar line of argument for the other regular polygons we find that:
Regular Shape
Tessellates?
Regular Pentagon
Regular Heptagon
Regular Octagon
Regular Nonagon
Regular Decagon
... ... etc. ... ...
108
128.57
135
140
144
...
No
No
No
No
No
...
Note that, for each shape in the table above, the result of dividing 360 by the interior angle is
not a whole number. Consequently, for any of these shapes it is impossible for an exact (whole)
number of them to meet at any point on the surface to be covered. Thus, either gaps will be left
between them or overlapping of the shapes will occur and therefore none of these shapes can be
used to create a regular tessellation.
Of all the regular polygons, only the equilateral triangle, the square and the regular hexagon
have interior angles such that the result of dividing 360 (a whole turn) by the interior angle is a
whole number. Consequently, only these three regular polygons can be used to create regular
tessellations.
and
Children should be taught to identify the repeating unit (composed of 2 or more shapes) in such
tessellations. This builds upon the skill of being able to identify the repeating unit in linear
patterns such as those made with beads on a string or with multilink which children should have
already experienced in previous work.
There are 8 semi-regular tessellations to be found. Each is shown below with the abbreviated
notation signifying how many of which type of regular polygon are located around each
common vertex.
For each of these semi-regular tessellations, the sum of the angles around each of the common
vertices is 360 and this is the reason why each of these combinations of regular polygons
produces a viable tessellation. Other combinations of regular polygons do not produce semiregular tessellations because it is not possible to achieve an angle sum of 360 around each
common vertex while maintaining identical tiling around each common vertex.
10
The fact that the angles A, B and C can be arranged to lie on a straight line (check with a
ruler) indicates that for this triangle the sum of the angles is equal to a half-turn or 180.
If several children attempt this each with different triangles it can be shown to work for
several triangles. This is then usually accepted as adequate evidence that the sum of the
angles of any triangle = 180.
Note that this procedure does not constitute a rigorous mathematical proof of this
mathematical statement since there are an infinite number of possible triangles and therefore
not all triangles have been tested by the procedure outlined above. However, it is usually
considered an adequate basis upon which to proceed for children at this level of
mathematics. The visual nature of the proof helps to convince children of the truth of the
hypothesis.
The Sum of the Angles in Any Quadrilateral
The fact that the sum of the angles in any quadrilateral = 360 can be proved in a similar
way to the procedure outlined above for triangles.
Draw any quadrilateral, tear off the corners and arrange around a common point:
11
B
C
tear off corners
& arrange around
a common point
A
C B
Then use the fact that a whole turn = 360 to deduce that A + B + C + D = 360 and so
prove that the sum of the angles of any quadrilateral = 360.
Note that the same reservations expressed above (regarding the procedure for proving the
angle-sum of triangles) about lack of mathematical rigor apply in this case also.
Triangles and quadrilaterals can be explored in relation to their tessellating propensities by
either presenting the task as a pair of investigations (i.e. Which triangles tessellate? Which
quadrilaterals tessellate?) or as a pair of hypotheses (All triangles tessellate, All
quadrilaterals tessellate) which children are asked to test and so either prove them or disprove
them.
12
Right-angled triangles
Scalene triangles
In fact, any triangle can be used as a repeating unit with which to tessellate.
In order to prove this, children can make use of what they already know, namely, a whole turn
about any point on the surface is 360. In addition to this, children will also need to know that
the sum of the angles of any triangle is 180 (see earlier section Preparatory Knowledge for
Understanding the Tessellation of Triangles and Quadrilaterals).
If it can be established that, for any triangle, the sum of the angles around any common vertex
is always 360 this will prove that all triangles tessellate.
A
This can be done simply with children by asking them to draw with a ruler any
triangle with angles labelled A, B and C.
B
C
A
B
C
A
C
A
A
C B
B C
A
C
A
A
C B
B C
A
C
A
A
C B
B C
A
A
C B
A
C B
We know that
A + B + C = 180
The Mathematics of Tessellation
A
C B
A
C
B
A
C
= (A + B + C) + (A + B + C)
= 180 + 180
= 360
Thus, any triangle can be used as a repeating unit for tessellating.
Brickwork patterns are often a rich source of everyday examples of such tessellations.
Initial explorations involving quadrilaterals suggest that, like triangles, most quadrilaterals can
be used as a repeating unit with which to tessellate:
14
It is also worth asking children to investigate quadrilaterals which have re-entrant angles such
as the dart which also tessellates:
After some exploration, children should begin to form the hypothesis that all quadrilaterals can
The Mathematics of Tessellation
15
This is then used to tessellate in such a way that around any common vertex there will be (from
the 4 quadrilaterals which meet there) one of each of the angles A, B, C and D as shown below:
A B
C D
A B
C
B
B A
C D
D C
A B
C
B
D C
A B
B A
C D
B A
C D
B A
C D
D
A
D C
A B
D C
A B
B
C
B A
C D
D
A
D C
B A
D C
B
16
Given that we know the angle sum of any quadrilateral to be 360 then
A + B + C + D = 360
Since the angles around any common vertex are precisely A, B, C and D and so must total 360,
we can then state that all quadrilaterals can be used as a repeating unit with which to
tessellate.
17
The original
square
The original
square
18
To explain why these irregular shapes tessellate is more difficult than for previous cases
encountered in Sections 1 - 3 and is usually considered to be beyond the level expected of
primary school children. The following explanation is included for subject knowledge purposes.
The argument that, around any common vertex within the tessellation, the sum of the angles is
360 is still true but this is now complicated by the fact that the boundary of the repeating unit
may include curved lines. Where curved lines are involved, we use the tangents to the curves to
define the limits of the angles:
a
d
c
Eschers
Lizard
Tessellation:
A hexagonal grid has
been superimposed
on this tessellation to
show how it has been
created. It uses a
replicating Lizard tile
made from a regular
hexagon which has
undergone
several
mathematical
transformations.
The Mathematics of Tessellation
19
The simplest way in which to do this type of work with children is to use a gummed paper shape as
the initial shape. Sections of this gummed paper shape can then be cut out and either translated or
rotated appropriately into their new positions. All of the pieces of gummed paper can then be stuck
to cardboard. Cutting around the outline of the transformed gummed paper shape will create a
template. This can then be used as the repeating unit for a tessellation.
20
or
or
(This is useful to consider with children in order to avoid/confront the misconception that
pentagons dont tessellate which arises when children over-generalise the non-tessellation of
regular pentagons and thereby assume that it is impossible to tessellate with any pentagon).
There are, currently, 14 known irregular pentagons which tessellate but no-one, to date, is
certain if any more exist.
... using letters of the alphabet:
H-shapes
The Mathematics of Tessellation
Y-shapes
E-shapes
21
e.g. using
to produce
... or to investigate the tessellating possibilities offered by the various sets of polyominoes
(extension of the idea of the domino):
Shapes composed of
3 squares
Shapes composed of
4 squares
All of the triominoes and the tetrominoes can be used as a repeating unit with which to
tessellate.
Shapes composed
of 5 squares. Only
some of these can
be used as repeating
unit with which to
tessellate.
22
Hexominoes are composed of 6 squares (there are 35 of these). Each of these will tessellate.
Similar tessellation investigations can be carried out with polyiamonds (similar to polyominoes
but made of equilateral triangles instead of squares):
etc.
The set of triamonds
(just one!)
The set of tetriamonds
23
The usual approach to tessellation with Logo is to encourage children to build up towards a
completed tessellation as follows:
1 Create one or more sub-procedures which generate each of the shapes involved in the
replicating unit;
2 Write a further sub-procedure which uses the shape sub-procedures to draw the unit
of shape(s) that will be repeated;
3 Create a final procedure which:
a) calls the sub-procedure that draws the repeating unit of shape(s);
b) repositions the turtle to draw the next repeating unit of shape(s);
c) repeats steps (a) and (b) until the desired surface area has been covered.
Just as for any other area of mathematics in which ICT is used, it is important to consider
whether the use of ICT is the most suitable tool/resource for achieving the desired learning or
teaching objectives and thereby use ICT as a means of teaching or learning only when it is
appropriate.
Resources
The photocopiable sheets of tiling mats which follow can be photocopied onto card or paper
and cut up to provide a selection of shapes for tiling large areas.
Typical activities for using these with children are:
creating tessellations which show different repeating patterns. How many patterns are
possible?
creating tessellations with closed or open patterns
creating tessellations so that the pattern has the maximum number of regions possible
is it possible to make pattern, make a larger version of the pattern which encloses the
first, and an even larger version enclosing that.... and so on?
make a design with as many triangles as possible.
create a pattern and investigate what happens if you slide one row of mats sideways
How many mats are needed to make the smallest possible square? And how many are
required for a slightly larger square? And the next square?
creating tessellations which spell particular letters of the alphabet, words or numbers
creating tessellations which have different kinds of symmetry (reflective, rotational,
translational)
design your own tiling mat by drawing or using the computer. How versatile is it?
Use of these tiling mats adds an additional dimension to tessellation activities since, in addition
to considering the position of each regular polygon within the tessellation, the children also
have to think about the orientation of each tile and its contribution towards the pattern created
as well. Tiling mats are also good for encouraging collaborative work and for developing the
use and understanding of mathematical language.
They also have uses in the teaching of area: for example, estimating and calculating how many
tiling mats are needed to cover a given area (table-top, home corner, hall floor etc.).
24
25
26
27
28
1979
1991
Penguin
29