#Irregular tessellation definition how to#

I encouraged students to write in the angles that met at a point to verify that they summed to 360 o.

#Irregular tessellation definition how to#

They had to think carefully about how to transform the shape. The quadrilaterals presented a challenge even to the students with the highest prior attainment, particularly when the size of the angles were similar. Īs our time was limited, I directed the students to cut out a triangle or quadrilateral from card and, after measuring and noting down the interior angles, tessellate their shape on paper. To tessellate is to cover a surface with a pattern of repeated shapes, especially polygons, that fit together closely without gaps or overlapping. We compared their ideas with a formal definition (below) and agreed that they were consistent. Will it work with all the types of triangles?Īfter showing them pictures of tessellations, the students began to construct an understanding of the concept: They had no prior knowledge of tessellations and, unsurprisingly, that was their first question about the prompt:ĭoes it mean that triangles fit into quadrilaterals? Do they 'perfectly overlap'?ĭo triangles and quadrilaterals do it in the same way? The prompt gave them an opportunity to see angle facts in a new context.

Andrew Blair reports on how the inquiry progressed: A year 7 mixed attainment class at Haverstock school (Camden, UK) inquired into the prompt during a 50-minute lesson.