Leonora Spyros

Math409

Tessellation Lesson Plan

Unit: Mathematics

Topic: Tessellations

Subject or Grade Level: Grade 5

Lesson Objective:

-Students will understand the concept of and the process of making tessellations

-Students will learn what tessellations are and the rules for creating successful tessellations

-Students will use the skills that they learn to produce their own unique tessellations by hand and computer generated through a manipulative program

CT Standards:

-Mathematics curriculum scope and sequence grade 5 #1, the students are able to draw and classify 2-dimensional shapes and geometric vocabulary

-Mathematics curriculum scope and sequence grade 5 #6, relate geometric shapes to nature and the real world

Purpose:Tessellationsare present everywhere in the world around us. For example, they can be found on bathroom and kitchen floors, on all types of wallpapers, on all types of clothing materials, on curtains, etc. If you open your eyes and look around you, you will see that tessellations are in many places, but you may have not noticed them because you were not looking for them, or did not know what a tessellation was.

Materials:

-Paper- Overhead Projector

-Pencils- Computers

-Rulers- Colored pencils

Anticipatory Set:In order to grab the attention of the students, I plan onhaving many examples of Maurits Cornelis Escher’s tessellations projected on the overhead screen when the students walk into class. This will catch their attention and have them want to learn what they are seeing. They will be interested in what the interesting designs on the overhead are, and this will allow me to begin my lesson on tessellations.

Time Estimate: (2 day lesson)

-5 minutes show examples of Escher’s tessellations

-15 minutes teach the lesson

-25-30 minutes hand drawn tessellations

-30 minutes computer made tessellations

-10-15 minute closure to lesson

Prior Knowledge:

-Geometric shapes (drawing and recognizing them)

-Vocabulary such as planes and symmetry

-Angle measures of geometric shapes

-Rotation, refection, translation (turn, flip, slide)

Important Terms (vocabulary):

-Tessellation

-Tessellate

-Regular tessellation

-Irregular tessellation

Teaching Model/Learning Environment: I would like to create a comfortable learning environment where there is a whole class made up of both males and females. The desks will be set up in clusters, where four desks make up one cluster. The students will be able to help each other if they are having trouble creating a hand drawn tessellation. The students will be able to ask questions if they are confused on something, and they will feel very safe and comfortable inside the classroom. If they are having difficulty with any of the instructions given, I will be there to clarify it and give help where it is needed.

Differentiated Instructions: There will be many different learning types incorporated into this lesson. For example, the visual learner will be present when I am showing examples of different tessellations on the overhead projector when teaching the lesson of what tessellations are and the rules that apply in order to have a tessellation work. The auditory learner will benefit because I will be speaking about tessellations during the lesson. Spatial intelligence will be assessed because the students will have to create their own unique tessellations using pencil, paper and a ruler, as well as create a tessellation on the computer through a virtual manipulative program. Last, and most obvious, this is a math lesson so the mathematical intelligence will be used in the sense that the students are dealing with geometric shapes and are being taught a math lesson.

Lesson Design:

-Show the class examples of tessellations

-Discuss what a tessellation is and the properties of determining a tessellation

-Show examples and have the class determine whether or not they follow the rules of tessellations and are in fact tessellations

-Have the students create their own unique tessellation using paper, pencil, and a ruler (if time permits they can color it in)

-Have the students create another unique tessellation using a computer program

-This will engage critical thinking because the students will have to determine whether or not some of the examples that I show are tessellations and also they will have to use their critical thinking to try to create their own tessellations, which can be pretty tricky. They will have to follow the properties of tessellations to ensure that the tessellations that they create are successful ones.

Assessment: I will be able to ensure that the students understood the concepts which I have taught if they were able to create their own unique tessellations using paper and pencil as well as creating one on the computer. Also throughout my lesson and before the students are able to create their own tessellations, I will ask them questions about tessellations and show them examples, and ask whether or not those designs follow the properties of a tessellation. There will be a rubric to fairly assess the child’s understanding or tessellations. It will assess whether they followed the rules of a tessellation when creating their own, as well as how well the use slide, flip, and turn and how well they recognize those three aspects.

Closure:During the last five minutes of class, I will gather the students back to their desks to assess what they have learned during the lesson on tessellations. I will show some more examples of tessellations and ask my students if these certain tessellations fit the criteria that I have taught them that a tessellation must contain in order to work. In the examples, I will also ask them why or why not they work or do not work, in order to make sure that the students understand what a tessellation is and what must be present in order for a tessellation to work. I will ask the students what they learned about tessellations, and some of the things that interested them or did not interest them about tessellations. I will then assign a homework assignment to ensure that everyone understood the lesson, because not everyone may have participated in the closure of the class.

References and additional resources:

- Mathematic Curriculum Scope and Standard – Content Standard #6

- (virtual manipulative website for students to create a tessellation interactively on the computer)

- Google Images