Tessellations

A tessellation is an arrangement of shapes closely fitted together, especially of polygons in a repeated pattern without gaps or overlapping.

A kitchen floor with square tiles is a tessellation. The tessellated shapes can be any shape or any combination of shapes. They can also be three-dimensional. A wall made out of bricks with no gaps is a tessellation.

Follow along to see how to make your own tessellation with whatever shape you want.

• Paper- a few colors or white so you can color it
• Tape
• Scissors
• Writing Utensils

You'll need squares to make your tessellations. Use four different colors at least.

Use one of your squares & draw a shape on top of it near the edge- see the photo at the top. If you're not sure what to do just follow along with our shapes.

Cut it off and tape it to the right side. The right edge of the shape needs to stay in place a the the right/top corner while the left edge of the shape will swivel and become the bottom.

Repeat the process of drawing a shape, this time on the bottom of your paper.

Cut it out and tape it to the left side of the paper. Make sure you rotate it around the bottom/left corner this time.

If you want, you can turn your shape into a creature by adding details.

Follow the same process with your three remaining papers. You can trace your first tessellation to make sure they are all the same.

Fit your 4 tessellations together. There may be a few different ways to do this. Now you can make more and make a giant tessellation.