Tessellations

A tessellation of a plane is the filling of the plane with repetitions of figures that do not overlap and do not have any gaps between them.  I had seen tessellations in art classes that I have taken in the past, but I never realized that it was also a math concept.  Tessellations can be fun to make, as well as be a great geometry activity in an elementary classroom.

There are so many different types of tessellations, that it is very easy to become creative with the different patterns.

When it comes to polygons, only a square, equilateral triangle, and a regular hexagon can tessellate on a plane. These are called regular tessellations.  Below are some examples of a square, equilateral triangle, and a regular hexagon tessellating on a plane.