Tessellation 3D Art Panel

A tessellation is an image of a repeating pattern of shapes/tiles with no gaps. In this lesson, you will learn how to create a tessellation tile using TinkerCad that you can print. You will use your abstract art skills to create a one-of-a-kind design and repeat the pattern to make your own math-inspired art. If you want a deeper dive into tesselations, look up the works of MC Escher. This can be taught in conjunction with teaching transformations by exploring what happens to a pattern when the cut-out is flipped horizontally.

TinkerCAD

3D printer

Filament needed for the print

Click on create and select 3D design. Once the template is open, make sure the drawing is set to millimeters on the bottom right.

Create a rectangular prism with dimensions of 80 mm x 80 mm x 5 mm in height. This will be the template for the tessellation.

Insert various shapes to group for both the top/bottom and the two sides. Once you are satisfied with the positions of all the shapes together and they are shorter than the sum of their side lengths, you can combine the two sets.

Once you have positioned your groupings on one side of the rectangular prism, use the duplicate button to make a copy to align in the same placement on the other side of the shape.

When you feel confident that the shapes are in the same position, top/bottom and left side/right side, choose one grouping to be the cut out. Make sure the objects are all a height of 5 mm before you group everything.

Once you have your tessellation, you can print off the image to see what you might want to turn your design into. Also, you can check to make sure they stack into one another. I thought my design looked like an Aztec-style gator, so I started to layer my design to 3D print.

Export the STL file and put it into the slicer software for your 3d printer, or send your item off to be printed. Print off several so you can admire the true beauty of a tessellation. I tried painting some from one color prints, then decided to layer my design into multiple prints to glue together later.

Once you have found and perfected your tessellation, enjoy your very own Escher-inspired design.