Butterflies

Geometry - Tessellation Project - Butterflies! By: Stephanie

In Geometry, we have been learning about tessellations. A tessellation is an endless pattern made of shapes. It can't have any gaps, holes, or overlapping sections. Tessellations have been used for 1,000's of years. M.C. Escher was one person who made tessellations out of recognizable figures.

For our tessellations, we had 3 types to choose from. The choices were translation, rotation, and reflection. I chose translation. Translation is moving or sliding a figure up, down, and over.

The theme/design of my tessellation was butterflies. For my butterflies, the wings are blue, the bodies are yellow, and the wings have pink spots on them. I chose butterflies because the wavy sides of the shape reminded me of the wings of a butterfly.

What symmetries did I have in my tessellation? Well, when you slide the shape up or down, it matches. When you fold one of the images in half, it doesn't match though. Also, if you reflect the image, it won't match up.

By doing this project, I have learned a few things. First, I learned what a tessellation is. I also learned how long they have been used and who made them out of recognizable figures. Lastly, I learned how complex tessellations are.