EXPLORING TESSELLATIONS WITH COMPUTER SOFTWARE
Once they have used Escher's tessellations to explore the transformations that can be used to create tessellating art, students are given the opportunity to create their own artwork on a computer with TesselMania!© or Tessellation Exploration© software. Within either program, they select a polygon and a modifying rule or rules. Whenever a "bump" or "hole" is added to a side, the program removes or adds the corresponding "hole" or "bump" from/to the appropriate side according to the rule selected. Classic paint tools, including stamps, are available for adding interior interpreting features.
Depending on the program, the corresponding tessellation either accompanies the tessellating shape or appears at the press of a button.
Each student's original artwork can be printed on transfer material suitable for color bubblejet printers, and then ironed onto a T-shirt. The results are truly outstanding!
A demo version of Tesselmania!© (Windows & Macintosh) can be downloaded from the Math Forum.
Download the full Windows version of Tesselmania!©. Decompress with WinZip or freeware ZipCentral. Visit General Instructions for TesselMania! for installation tips.
Tessellation Exploration© (Windows & Macintosh) allows the user to create more varied tessellations and includes a reflection (flip) option. The software is avsilable from the Amazon.com.
Download a compressed file containing 20 TesselMania! Escher Simulations or 20 Tessellation Exploration Escher Simulations (each for use with the Windows version only). Decompress with WinZip or freeware ZipCentral.
My book Explorations with TesselMania! shows students how to use TesselMania! and its paint features, including pixel editing, to explore mathematics using recognizable tessellating shapes, quilts, and Islamic tillings. The accompanying disks (Windows & Macintosh) give examples, including original student art, for your students to explore and modify.