Activity Description Create a tessellation by deforming a triangle, rectangle or hexagon to form a polygon that tiles the plane. Corners of the polygons may be dragged, and corresponding edges of the polygons may be dragged. Parameters: Colors, starting polygon.

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Tessellate!

Place in mathematics curriculum:

This activity can be used to:

• recognize and explore the properties of tessellations
• identify and examine symmetry in geometric figures
• describe, and classify polygons
• examine the role of mathematics in society and nature

This activity allows the user to deform a triangle, rectangle or hexagon to form a polygon that tiles the plane. This activity would work well in groups of two to four for about twenty-five minutes if you use the exploration questions and fifteen minutes otherwise.

Preparations for this activity:

• give implicit directions on what they are to do. For example "Today we are going to explore tessellations and try to answer the exploration questions..."
• answer the question "Why do some deformations not tessellate?"