c

MATHEMATICAL CHALLENGE FOR FILIPINO KIDS TRAINING PROGRAM

Middle Primary Division Grade Three

Session 9: Tessellations
A tessellation is a pattern of shapes with no gaps or overlaps which can he continued as far as you wish. We say
that a shape (or combination of shapes) tessellates if a tessellation of these shapes can be made. Tessellation are
common in floor tilings and designs.

We are going to look at tessellations formed from polygons (planar, straight-edged figures such as triangles.
squares and hexagons). A regular polygon is a polygon with all sides equal in length and all angles equal. A
square is a regular four-sided polygon.

We say that two objects are congruent if they are exactly the same size and shape. This means that one of the
objects can be moved so that it exactly covers the other one (it may need to be flipped over for this to happen).
For example. the shapes in these pairs are congruent. One of the second pair must be flipped to fit on top of the
other.

 Any triangle will tessellate.

 Congruent squares tessellate (think of graph paper or wall tiles) Tessellation of different-sized squares
are also possible.

Creating Tessellations
Interesting tessellations are easy to create using the plane regular tessellations as a framework.

Congruent Congruent Equilateral Congruent Regular

Squares Triangles Hexagons
  By altering one side of a square or regular hexagon and then sliding (translating) it to the opposite side,
a new shape is formed. This has the same area as the original shape.

Example 1:

Example 2:

Here, both pairs of opposite sides have been altered by the same basic .

The altered side may also be rotated about one corner of the square as in the example below.
Example 3: Row
1
2
3
4

Notice how the second row of shapes is the flip (reflection) of the first row about a horizontal line. Similarly,
the third and fourth rows are reflections of each other. What else can you see in this pattern?

Warm-Up Practice

1. Which figure will not tessellate?

A B C D

(1) A (2) B (3) C (4) D

2. The pattern in the box shows part of a tessellation. How many more unit shapes can be drawn in the space
provided within the dots?

(A) 21 (B) 25 (C) 29 (D) 34

3. Use the given unit shape to draw a tessellation in the space provided within the box. Draw at least 3 more
unit shapes.

4. The shape can be tessellated. Shade the shape that does not fit into the tessellation shown below.
5. The pattern in the box shows part of tessellation ( ). Extend the tessellation by drawing 6 unit shapes in
the space provided within the box.

6. The shape can be tessellated. Shade the shape that does not fit into the tessellation shown below.

7. State the number of unit cubes that make up the solid below.

(A) 16 (B) 17 (C) 18 (D) 20

8. In the following figure, the line of symmetry is represented by a dotted line. Complete the figure by drawing
the other half of the symmetric figure.

9. Use 5 mm grid paper to make your own tessellation of different sized squares.

10. Draw a pattern to show that any rectangle will tessellate.

11. On grid paper, show how each of these shapes may tessellate. Draw at least 6 of each shape:

Rhombus Parallelogram Trapezium Quadrilateral

Note: Any irregular quadrilateral will tessellate in the same way as this one.

12. The sum of the angles at a point is 360°. What is the size of each angle in
(a) a square?
(b) a rectangle?

Power Plus Exercises

1. Look at this tessellation of triangles. Copy the diagram. Label some more
angles which are equal to a°, b° and c°. Why are they equal?
What are the sizes (in terms of a°, b° and c°) of the six angles which meet at
point P? What is the sum a + b + c ?

2. In Question 4 we noted that there were four angles around an interior point of a tessellation of squares and
we used this to find the size of each interior angle in a square. Use the same idea to work out the size of
each angle in a regular hexagon.
3. This pentagon (five-sided polygon) is divided into three triangles by two
diagonals. The sum of the angles of a triangle is 180° (See Question 5
above).
(a) What is the sum of all the angles in this pentagon?
(b) If the pentagon is regular, what would be the size of each of its angles?
(c) Divide a hexagon and an octagon (8-sided polygon) into triangles in the
same way. What is the sum of the angles in
(i) a hexagon?
(ii) an octagon?

4. All the angles of a regular polygon are equal. What is the size of each angle in
(a) an equilateral triangle?
(b) a regular decagon (10-sided polygon)?
(c) a regular dodecagon (12-sided polygon)?

5. Only three regular polygons will tessellate.

On dot paper, copy these tessellations and mark the center of each polygon with a dot. Join pairs of dots
which are closes to each other.
What do you notice is formed?

6. (a) Make a tessellation on grid paper using only regular octagons and squares. (This is called a semi-
regular tessellation, being made using only regular polygons and more than one kind of regular
polygon. Altogether, there are only 8 different semi-regular tessellations.)
(b) What are the sizes of the angles about any vertex of this tessellation?

7. A parallelogram is a 4-sided figure with both pairs of opposite sides parallel. Look at this tessellation of
congruent parallelograms.
(a) What can you say bout the lengths of opposite sides of a parallelogram?
(b) What can you say about the opposite angles of a parallelogram?
(c) What is the sum of the four angles in each parallelogram?

8. Use 2-cm grid paper to show how each of the following shapes tessellates. Show at least three rows of
three shapes for each one. Color alternate shapes.

9. Two semi-circles meet at the midpoint of one side of an equilateral triangle. One semicircle is rotated about
a vertex of the triangle until it meets the next side.
(a) Draw a tessellation of this figure on isometric grid paper,
showing at least 8 shapes. Color alternate shapes.
(b) Create your own tessellation based on an equilateral
triangle using the above method of rotating some or all of
an altered side about a vertex.
10. This strange shape which tessellates started as a hexagon.
(a) Describe how each side has been altered
so that tessellation is assured.
(b) Using this method, create your own
tessellation based on a hexagon.

Take the Challenge

1. This shape has been made by altering the sides of an equilateral triangle. Will it
tessellation? Give your reasons.

2. Try to split this figure into 4 parts identical in size and shape. Remember only horizontal and vertical lines
are allowed.

3. Which of the following nets cannot be folded into a cube?

D E
B C
A

Prepared by: MTG PHILIPPINES

Note: All publications are protected by copyright. It is unlawful to make copies without the prior written
permission of the Mathematics Trainers’ Guild, Philippines.