Spirolaterals are repeating patterns that can be drawn from a set of instructions.

A set of instructions looks

like a sequence of numbers in square brackets. Here is an example of a set of instructions that you can use
to draw a spirolateral.
[ 1, 2, 3 ]
To draw a spirolateral like [ 1, 2, 3 ] you have to follow these set of instructions very carefully .

Instructions
1. First you have to know which directions are North, South, East and West.

W E

2. Start at a point

3. Go east the number of centimetres given by the first number in the bracket. This tells you to
go east 1 cm.

1cm east

4. As East was the last direction the next direction is south, because we move around the compass
in a clockwise direction. The next number is 2 so we move south 2cm.

2cm south

5. The next direction is west. Go west 3cm.

3 units west
 6. Here is the spirolateral being formed in three stages. The instructions are written in full below
each stage.

STAGE ONE STAGE TWO STAGE THREE

1 cm east 1 cm east 1 cm east

2 cm south 2 cm south 2 cm south
3 cm west 3 cm west 3 cm west
1 cm north 1 cm north
2 cm east 2 cm east
3 cm south 3 cm south
1 cm west
2 cm north
3 cm east

7. Write down the spirolaterals set of instructions for the fourth stage and then draw on the grid
paper the spirolateral from start to finish. You do not need to put arrows on the end of each
line to show the direction, those were just there to help you get to this stage

SECTION A

Now you have a go. Draw the spirolateral [1, 4, 2]. The pattern has already been started for you. The
first instruction was;

 1 unit east

1. Write down the full set of instructions stopping only when two units to the north appears in the set
of instructions.

2. Draw the spirolateral now using your instructions.

Section B

Now you have mastered the art of drawing spirolaterals, you need to investigate them further, by drawing
some more and comparing the set of instructions to the drawings that result.

Draw the following spirolaterals on graph paper.

1. [ 1, 2, 4 ] 2. [ 1, 2, 5 ] 3. [ 1, 2, 6 ]
Questions

1. What is the same about the spirolaterals you have just drawn? What was different?

If you add the first two numbers in the set of instructions you will notice that their
total is always less than the third number. We call this RULE ONE. If the
spirolaterals set of instructions follow rule one, then they will always draw a
spirolateral like the ones you have seen in Section B.

Section C

These spirolaterals below result in different patterns to those found in section B. Can you discover RULE
TWO on your own?

Draw the following spirolaterals on graph paper.

1. [ 2, 4, 5 ] 2 [ 3, 4, 5 ] 3. [ 4, 4, 5 ]

Questions

1. What is the same about the spirolaterals you have just drawn? What is different from the
spirolaterals drawn in section B

2. These spirolaterals do not obey RULE ONE, create a new rule that does fit for these spirolaterals
and call it RULE TWO.

Section D

Draw the following spirolaterals

1. [ 1, 3, 4 ] 2. [ 1, 4, 5 ] 3. [ 2, 4, 6 ] 4. [ 3, 4, 7 ]
Questions

1. What is the same about the spirolaterals you have just drawn? What was different about these
spirolaterals than the ones you drew in section B and C?

2. These spirolaterals do not obey RULE ONE or RULE TWO, create a new rule that does fit for
these spirolaterals and call it RULE THREE.

SECTION E

1. Give an example of a set of instructions for a spirolateral that would look like the ones in section
B.
[ ]
2. Draw the spirolateral that you chose.

3. Give an example of a set of instructions for a spirolateral that would look like the ones in section
C.
[ ]
4. Draw the spirolateral that you chose.

5. Give an example of a set of instructions for a spirolateral that would look like the ones in section
D.
[ ]
6. Draw the spirolateral that you chose.

7. Investigate spirolaterals further. Is there anything else you can find out about them. Draw more
spirolaterals to help you to discover all their secrets.

Write down all your findings here.