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| What's Tessellation?
A tessellation is created when a pattern made from identical shapes has
no overlaps or leaves no gaps.
Creating tessellations in 'Shapes and Nets' is great fun! And it get
you thinking about angles and sides; to make the triangular tessellation
for example one has to keep rotating the triangles by 60 degrees to make
them fit, and you have to use the equilateral triangle! |
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| Tessellation
Tessellations can be made from the regular shaped polygons, equilateral
triangle, square and hexagon. They are called regular because they each
have sides of equal length. Here are some regular tessellations made in
'Shapes and Nets' |
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Perhaps someone at home has made a quilt from
identical hexagon shaped pieces of material ... that's a tessellation! |
This tessellation is made from equilateral triangles.
Notice how a group of six triangles looks like a hexagon! |
The squares in this pattern together perfectly
to form a tessellation. |
| Tessellations can be created from irregular
shapes too, look at these three tessellations made in 'Shapes and Nets',
the shapes don't look like likey candidates to form a tessellating
pattern, but as you copy, move and rotate each shape your tessellating
pattern will soon start to emerge. |
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Creating a tessellation from irregular shapes can look
quite tricky at first, but look at this odd looking irregular shape, it
fits together perfectly. |
Have you ever played tetris? use 'tetris' shapes to
make a tessellating pattern. This tessellation is made for 'L' shapes. |
A tessellating pattern of fish requires a bit of
concentration to make. You must choose the right coloured fish to rotate
and position. |
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"My children and I are having fun exploring
the rich possibilities embodied in this program."
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