#MathArtChallenge Day 25: Tessellations

3 images of a puzzle piece looking tessellation based on a cardboard cut piece.

The Challenge: Great your very own tessellation from a small piece of cardboard.

Start with a square (Cereal or pop box cardboard works great) Mine was 2”x2”
Cut a piece from one side and tape it to an adjacent side.
Repeat for remaining 2 edges.
Trace!

Materials Needed: Pencil, paper, and cardboard from a cereal box or a pop box or something similarly thin but stiff enough to trace.
Math concepts you could explore with this challenge: angles, geometry, polygons, tessellations, vertices/intersections

Depending on how you use this activity, you may engage with different mathematical standards. I’ve listed possible connected math content above. Here are a few suggestions for how you might integrate the 8 mathematical practices. Feel free to add your own suggestions in the comments!

5.) Use appropriate tools strategically. If you lack cardboard, or the means to cut it, what other things might you use? What size of cardboard pieces will work?

6.) Attend to precision. How precise does your piece need to be in order to effectively tessellate? How intricate can your puzzle piece be?

7.) Look for and make use of structure. What core shaped pieces can you make a tessellation with? You can certainly use squares, what about parallograms? Or hexagons? Or pentagons?