A pattern made of identical shapes: * the shapes must fit together without any gaps * the shapes should

not overlap Example: This tessellation is made with squares and octagons.

Tessellations
Tessellation Definition
A tessellation is created when a shape is repeated over and over again covering a plane without any gaps or overlaps. Another word for a tessellation is a tiling.

Tiling Definition
When you fit individual tiles together with no gaps or overlaps to fill a flat space like a ceiling, wall, or floor, you have a tiling.

What are Tessellations

The word 'tessera' in latin means a small stone cube. They were used to make up 'tessellata' - the mosaic pictures forming floors and tilings in Roman buildings The term has become more specialised and is often used to refer to pictures or tiles, mostly in the form of animals and other life forms, which cover the surface of a plane in a symmetrical way without overlapping or leaving gaps.

Tessellation
A pattern of shapes that fit perfectly together! A Tessellation (or Tiling) is when you cover a surface with a pattern of flat shapes so that there are no overlaps or gaps.

Examples:

Rectangles

Octagons and Squares

Different Pentagons

Regular Tessellations
A regular tessellation is a pattern made y repeating a regular polygon. There are only 3 regular tessellations:

!riangles $.$.$.$.$.$

Squares %.%.%.%

"e#agons &.&.&

Look at a Vertex ...

A verte# is 'ust a (corner point(. )hat shapes meet here*

!hree he#agons meet at this verte#+ and a he#agon has & sides. So this is called a "6.6.6" tessellation.

For a regular tessellation, the pattern is identical at each vertex

!emi"regular Tessellations
A semi"regular tessellation is made of two or more regular polygons. The pattern at each vertex must #e the same There are only 8 semi-regular tessellations:

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$.,-.,-

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%.... !o name a tessellation+ go around a verte# and write down how many sides each polygon has+ in order ... li/e ($.,-.,-(. And always start at the polygon with the least num er of sides+ so ($.,-.,-(+ not (,-.$.,-( Question 1: For the tessellations above, is the pattern the same at each verte ! Question ": #ne of those patterns becomes $ifferent %hen you ma&e a mirror-image of it ''' %hich one!

$ther Tessellations
!here are also (demiregular( tessellations+ ut mathematicians disagree on what they actually are0 And some people allow curved shapes (not 'ust polygons) so you can have tessellations li/e these1

2urvy Shapes
Tessellation Artist;

2ircles

3agles*

%nstructions
4irst 5 'ust play with it0 !ry the different tools and see what happens.

Tiling &irections
6ou can control the spacing of the tiles y altering the two tiling directions. Tr' tiling in one direction onl':

(o) tile in t)o directions:

7ow try differemt num ers+ pressing (Re5!ile( after each change to see the effect. 8f you need to ma/e the pattern e#act+ you may have to do some calculations first0

*ol'gons
6ou can draw regular polygons using the polygon tool. 2hoose the num er of sides+ from $ (Triangles) to -9 ((cosagons). 6ou may also need to ad'ust the angle to get the desired effect.

Octagons+ Angle:9

Octagons+ Angle:--.;

(udge and +ndo

After adding a shape+ you can (7udge( it into place+ or ad'ust its si<e. !his only wor/s on the shape you 'ust added. 6ou can also use (=ndo( to remove the last shape.