Jennifer Thomas

Math Lesson Plan: 4

th
Grade

TITLE/TYPE OF ACTIVITY Transformation Tessellations

CONTEXT OF ACTIVITY This activity will follow the lesson on transformations. It
will reinforce the different types of transformations and how they can be used. This lesson also
follows a lesson on polygons. Students will have an understanding of what polygons are.

CONCEPTS TO BE COVERED This activity incorporates an in depth look at the uses of
transformations in order to create tessellations. It uses many different examples of tessellation
types and pictures, including examples from the famous M.C. Escher.

RELATED VIRGINIA STANDARDS OF LEARNING
4.11 The student will

a) investigate congruence of plane figures after geometric transformations, such as
reflection, translation, and rotation, using mirrors, paper folding, and tracing; (4.11a: This
portion of the SOL will not be covered in this lesson)
b) recognize the images of figures resulting from geometric transformations, such as
translation, reflection, and rotation.

LESSON PLAN OBJECTIVES
1. Students will draw and label a tessellation using the basic transformations of translation
and rotation.
2. Students will create their own tessellation piece.
3. Students will be able to create a definition of tessellations that helps them to understand
what a tessellation is.

ASSESSMENT PLAN
1. Objective 1: Students will be given two small squares, and they will make a piece that
they can translate and a piece that rotates. They will label each of these pieces.
2. Objective 2: Students will make a tessellation piece that will be collected. On the back,
they will make a few transformations of their piece, and they will label what they did in
the piece (i.e. they made a translation, rotation, or glide reflection, or reflection).
3. Objective 3: Students will answer the closing statement of tessellations are These
responses will be put on the back of their tessellation piece.

MATERIALS NEEDED
- Cardstock/Manila Folders (me)
- Scissors (classroom)
- Tape (classroom)
- Childrens Book:
- Print outs of Tessellation Examples (me)
- Dot Paper (me)
- Pattern Blocks (professor)
- 8 x 11 pieces of Paper (me)
- Markers/Crayons (me)
- Overhead/Smart Board/Doc Camera/Computer (classroom)
- Simple Tessellation Sheet for Remedial Problem (me)
- Directions to Challenge Problem: printed (me)
- Pencils (students)
- Copies of the questions to answer on the back (me)

ARTICLE REACTION

I chose this article because it gave a really great lesson to teaching students about tessellations
and the different types of tessellations. This article inspired me to emphasize that not all
mathematics is just arithmetic, but that math can be integrated into many different disciplines. It
really emphasized that tessellations is a great way to incorporate art into math and allows
students to be creative (Giganti & Cittadino, pg. 6). This article surprised me in how it placed a
bigger emphasis on the artistic portion of tessellations than the actual mathematical portion, but I
can see how that would make sense because of the fact that tessellations do not depend heavily
on numerical skills (Giganti & Cittadino, pg. 6). Before I read this article, I did not know all
the various types of tessellations that there could be. There are translations (slides), rotations
(turns), glide reflection, rotation at midpoint, and many more. I think this article is beneficial to
teachers because it gives exact directions how to make each kind of piece that performs the
tessellations listed above. Using tessellations and allowing students to go in depth with them will
cultivate their spatial sense and heighten it as they explore figures, relationships in figures, and
effects of changing figures (Giganti & Cittadino, pg. 13 & 16). Another thing of value that the
article had was a listing of famous and well known authors who have really placed an emphasis
on tessellations. From this article, I looked up M.C. Escher online, and I am excited to use some
of his pieces in my lesson. Introducing this artist to the students will really allow students to
think creatively and want to think outside the box. When students think outside the box, amazing
things will happen.

MODIFICATIONS

Challenge: For students who finish early and need an additional challenge, I will provide them
with an example of one of Eschers pieces. I will print these directions from
http://library.thinkquest.org/16661/escher/tessellations.1.html. This website has many of his
pieces, and it breaks it down to see how he created each design. This challenge problem can give
the students the challenge to see if they can recreate it. It breaks a hexagon down into rhombi and
equilateral triangles. This shows the students how the regular polygons can be manipulated into
other regular polygons. It also shows them that you can still tessellate a hexagon, but also
tessellate the 6 equilateral triangles within by using many different techniques such as rotation
and translation. This can inspire the students to try to imitate his piece, or they can make their
own design inside of the triangles.
- See the attached directions for this problem.

Remedial: For students who are struggling, I will give them a worksheet of a basic tessellation
including regular polygons. They can have the option of choosing a regular polygon from the
pattern blocks such as a square, equilateral triangle, or hexagon. The students can trace this to
make a tessellation. OR There is an attached sheet that already has hexagons tessellated through
translation (This option would be best for students who are severely struggling). For students
who need the pre-tessellated worksheet, they can take a hexagon pattern block, and move it
along the pattern to get the motion of what is happening.
- This will help students who are having trouble making their own piece because they keep
cutting wrong or taping wrong. It also helps students who are having a hard time tracing
the figure. It eliminates all of these possible interferences of the concepts.
- http://library.thinkquest.org/16661/templates/regular.3.black.m.html
PROCEDURES

Before:
The students have already learned the three types of transformations: Translation, Reflection, and
Rotation. We will review these three different types of transformations and what happens in each
one. Introduce what we will be talking about: tessellations.

Question 1: Has anyone ever heard of a tessellation?

Possible Student Answers Teacher Follow-Up Questions
No. Based off of the review of transformations,
what do you think a tessellation might involve?
Transformations! You have to use the
transformations somehow.
O.K. What do you think you might do with
these transformations?
Yes. O.K. What do you think a tessellation might
be?

For the rest of the introduction, I will read the book A Cloak for the Dreamer by Aileen
Friedman. In the book, there is a tailor who has three sons. The tailor gets an order to make three
new cloaks for the Archduke. They needed to be colorful and protect the Archduke from the
wind and rain. One of the sons makes his cloak out of circles, but it does not work. He works
with his two brothers in order to figure out what shapes work best in making the three cloaks.
This book helps students to see that there cannot be any space between the figures in order to
make a tessellation.

Question 2: What did you notice about the cloaks?

Possible Student Answers Teacher Follow-Up Questions
They had patterns. What kinds of patterns did you notice?
They were made of shapes! Did every shape work?
Yes. Each shape made some kind of cloak.
(Incorrect Response)
Was there one that would have let the wind and
rain through?
Yes. The circles let the wind and rain through. What was the solution to fix that problem?
They made it into hexagons! What did you notice about the cloak once it
was changed?
It would not let wind and rain through anymore
because there were no spaces between the

shapes anymore.


Question 3: What do you think that transformations have to do with tessellations?

Possible Student Answers Teacher Follow-Up Questions
You have to use them to make the pattern! In the square cloak, what type of
transformation did the son use to make the
cloak?
A translation or slide. What did he have to do to slide the square?
Can you show me on the board?
Nothing. (Incorrect response). What could you do to the square to make the
pattern? (Show the picture with the square
cloak).
You could move it over and over and over
again.
Okay, can you demonstrate on the board with
this square (use a small square cut out)? What
did you do to move the square and trace it?

During:

Question 4: Based off of the book we read, what do you think a tessellation is?

Possible Student Answers Teacher Follow-Up Questions
Something to do with transformations. What do you with these transformations?
You do them over and over again? Can you explain to me what do them over and
over mean?
You use the shapes and do a transformation
over and over again.
Could you use any shape?
Yes. (Incorrect response). O.K. Remember what happened to the circle
cloak? What was it about the circle cloak that
made it not work?
There was space between each circle that
allowed the wind and rain to get through.
So what shapes worked the best?
The squares, rectangles, and hexagons! What made those work the best?
You could slide it one right next to the other
and there was no space left between.
Do you think that applies to all tessellations?

Each group will receive a piece of plain white computer paper and 2 sets of pattern blocks. The
students will arrange their figures to show how they can cover a surface completely. They will be
able to use all the polygons to try and fit together a pattern that covers the paper. Then, they will
make and share patterns that do not cover the entire paper
Next, each group will only be allowed to use one type of polygon: equilateral triangle, square,
hexagon.

I will pass out an example picture of tessellations to each group. There will be 1 or 2 examples
that are not tessellations. Each group of 3-4 students will decide 1. If the picture is a tessellation
or not. 2. If it is, what type of transformation was used in the picture (translation, reflection, or
rotation?). Students will talk to the other students in their group and describe what is happening
in each picture. I will right on the board translation, reflection, and rotation. One person from
each group will come and put their example under the chosen category. The group will have to
explain why they chose to put the picture in the category they did. This will give me a chance to
correct ones that students might have misconceptions.

Some of these examples will be Escher tessellations. I will take this opportunity to introduce who
he is and pass around a book that has some of his pieces in it.
- Escher was a Dutch graphic artist who created many mathematically inspired
pieces. Although not all of his pieces are tessellations, many of his pieces are.

Next, I will go over the Smart Board Lesson.

Question 5: Does anyone remember what a polygon is?

Possible Student Answers Teacher Follow-Up Questions
Yes. It is a shape. What type of shape is it?
It can be a square or rectangle. What do squares and rectangles have that make
them a polygon?
They have 4 sides and 4 angles. Do all polygons have to have 4 sides and 4
angles? Is a hexagon a polygon?
No. What makes it a polygon?
Yes. (Incorrect response). Why would it not be a polygon? Think about
the different kinds of polygons. Remember that
we have quadrilaterals, which are polygons
with 4 sides (quad=4).
Yes a polygon has all straight sides. Are all sides touching each other? Can we have
an open side?
No.

On the first slide of the Smart Board lesson, there is a definition of polygons. I will display the
definition. Based on the definition, students will circle which of the figures are polygons.
Students will notice that all the circled figures have closed sides. Each side is a straight line, and
none of the lines intersect.

The Smart Board lesson goes to the next slide and says that some polygons can be used to tile a
surface. It allows students to move the squares and cover the purple rectangle region. Then it
moves on to rectangles and circles. The students will see that rectangles and circles will not
tessellate. Following this slide, students can come up and check which figures they predict will
tessellate or not.

The next slide gives the definition of tessellation, after the students have already constructed
their own meaning of what tessellations are. Following this page, there are more opportunities
for students to come up to the board and make a tessellation with different shapes: kite,
parallelogram, isosceles triangle, and irregular dodecagon.

After some practice, the Smart Board lesson goes in to the two main types of tessellations. They
refer to one of them as manipulating polygons and a slide translation. However, I would not use
these slides because I think it is more beneficial to use the terms translations, reflections, and
rotations.

At this point I would refer back to the activity the class did earlier on classifying the types of
transformations they saw. I would ask them:

Question 6: Which types of transformations did you see most often?

Possible Student Answers Teacher Follow-Up Questions
Translation Why do you think that a translation might be
used the most?
Because it is the easiest to do. Why else do you think they might use a
translation?
Rotation Like the translation, why do you think that
rotation is used most often?
You just have to move the figure around. What do you mean by move the figure around?
Reflection Why do you say that reflection was done the
most?
Because there were some examples of
reflection.
Do you think it would be easy to use the mirror
image of some of the irregular pieces that were
used?

Now, I will demonstrate exactly how to do the types of tessellations through the use of
transformations. I will have 3 squares already precut and made. I will have one example for a
translation, one for a rotation, and one for a glide reflection. I will cut the piece before, but I will
use it to show what I did and then tape it while shown on the doc camera. Then, I will have
premade pieces of paper that show each kind of transformation that is used. It will be premade
with the pieces I have already designed. I will move the piece along the examples to show
exactly what was done for each type of tessellation.

I will hang these examples on the board as a reference for the students.

Now the students will make their own tessellation piece. I will have premade squares for students
who want their own square. I will also have dot paper for them to design their piece before they
trace it. This will help them make sure all of the lines are equal and straight. They would cut this
piece from the dot paper and trace it onto the cardstock or manila folder, and then they would cut
it out for them to have a tracing piece.

Question 7: Can you tell me what type of figure/shape you used and what you are doing with it?

Possible Student Answers Teacher Follow-Up Questions
I am using a hexagon, and I am translating it. How do you know you are translating it?
I am using an irregular figure I made from a What are you doing with this piece to make
square. your tessellation?
I am using a circle and moving it. (Incorrect
response).
Can you tell me how the circle makes the
tessellation?

The students will color and design and color the piece however they would like. I will walk
around and ask question 7 to some of the students. I will also observe what they are doing so that
if a student is not making a tessellation I will be able to correct the problem.


After:

Once the students are finished, they will share the answer to these two questions to the other
members of their group:
1. What kind of shape did you use?
2. What did you do with this shape in order to make it tessellate? How do you know?

They will also write the response on the back of their tessellation piece. They will also draw a
representation with their tracer piece on the back. They will draw arrows to represent and prove
what transformation they are using to create the piece. They will not color this part.

Closing questions:
1. What have you learned about tessellations?
2. Do they have to be made with regular polygons?
3. Do all shapes tessellate?
4. What shapes do not tessellate? Why?
5. Finish this sentence in your own words: Tessellations are

SMART BOARD

- Smart Board lesson includes an overview of polygons. It helps students recognize what
types of regular polygons tessellate, and it allows them to try out many different shapes to
see if they tessellate. The lesson is taken from http://exchange/smarttech.com. This lesson
helps the students begin to think about the different shapes that tessellate or do not
tessellate. It also allows them to practice on the board by moving pieces around.
o http://exchange.smarttech.com/details.html?id=d011a5d5-3011-442a-99b2-
e7dad444bce8

VISUAL REPRESENTATION

- See poster board.

NCTM PROCESS STANDARDS

- Problem Solving: When classifying the different examples as either a tessellation or non-
tessellation, students will use problem solving skills in order to place the piece in the
proper category. The students will also use problem solving skills in order to defend the
choice they made. They will also have to decide what type of transformation is being
used in the tessellation piece: translation, reflection, or rotation. Again, students will
demonstrate problem solving skills in order to defend their choice. Lastly, students will
use their problem solving skills in order to determine what type of transformation that
they have used in creating their own tessellation.
- Reasoning and Proof: Students demonstrate this skill when defining the three different
types of transformations: translation, reflection, and rotation. They also use these skills
when proving why the particular tessellation belongs to a particular category of
transformation. During the assessment, the students must determine what type of
transformation they are making. They have to prove by drawing one simple
transformation on the back of their paper. They will show arrows demonstrating what
they did.
- Communication: Students will communicate with one another in their groups of 3-4
students when deciding what particular category the tessellation piece belongs. The
students must decide if it is a tessellation or not, and then they must decide what type of
transformation is being used in the piece. At the end of making their tessellation art, the
students will share with the members of their group the piece that they used in making the
tessellation. They will also have to explain to the other students in their group what type
of transformation they used.
- Connections: Students will make connections to prior knowledge of transformations:
translations, reflections, and rotations. They will also make connections to prior
knowledge of polygons and shapes through the Smart Board lesson. They will also make
connections in their assessment by explaining what type of shape they made, and they
will explain what type of transformation was made. This makes connections to the
information that was discussed and learned during the lesson.

REFERENCES

Friedman, Aileen. A Cloak for Dreamer. (1995). Marilyn Burns Education Associates: New
York, Ny.

Giganti, P. Jr., & Cittadino, M. J (1990). The art of tessellation. The Arithmetic Teacher, 37, 6-
16.

Totally Tessellated: Historical Image Gallery. Thinkquest: Library. N.p., n.d., Retrieved from
http://library.thinkquest.org/1661/gallery.

Van de Walle, J. A., & Lovin, L. H. (2006). Geometric thinking and geometric concepts.
Teaching Student-Centered Mathematics Grades 3-5. Pearson Learning: Boston, MA.