Sinterklaas
by Jasper

Pig Noses
by Jasper

Fish
by Kelsey

Birds
by Midori

Rabbits
by Adeline

Monsters
by Matt

Flying
Creature
by Niharica

Fish
by Masato

Flower
by Hanae

Strange
Face
by Kristian

Mr. Fish
by Olgax

Dancing Men
by Nora

Shark Eating
Shark
by Gregory

Mad Bats
by Kelsey

Pretty Cats
by Miranda

The Mouth
by Jasper

Dogs
by Nicky

Bald Eagle
by Jules

Polar Bears
by Hannah

Fish
by Korehito

Wonder
Foxes
by Akie

Kangeroo
by Becky

Monster
Power
by Abhishek

Crazy Dog
by Morgan

Big Nose Guy
by Arnaud

Dude With
No Limits
by Erol

Description of the Project

In the second quarter of Grade Five we did a unit on Geometry. Students have been exploring tessellations and the work of Dutch artist M.C. Escher. On November 30, 1998 we made a class trip to the Escher Exhibition in Rotterdam.

M.C. Escher was born 100 years ago, and yet his woodcut prints and lithographs look so very modern that they almost seem to have been created using computer technology instead of traditional tools. Escher did not consider himself an artist or a scientist, though his work has been a great inspiration to students here who have used his ideas in both maths and art lessons to produce their own tessellation designs and linoleum prints.

Escher used the natural world - especially birds, fish (2), insects and reptiles (2) - as well as his training in architecture (2) to visualise and create his designs. Note: Check out the animated graphics in the links above to see how Escher created his tessellations.

Our students have used a computer software program Tessellmania developed by Kevin Lee to create their own designs and produce their pictures. Click on the links in the menu to see some examples of tessellations which our grade 5 class has created.

  Maths Forum Project Award : In addition to our Tessellation Projects, our grade 5 students regularly participate in the Maths Forum Project "Elementary Problem of the Week". The class of 98-99 placed in the top 50 groups (out of 7000 entries) and was awarded this certificate from the organizers of the project.

Other Internet resources. Hop's Escher Tiles, examples of Escher type tessellations and other resources for studying maths and art and Totally Tessellated, an award-winning ThinkQuest '98 project which provides a comprehensive introduction to tessellations and includes and an excellent biography of M.C. Escher. Two other curriculum resources are: Tantalizing Tessellations and Geometric Systems in Architecture

Here is a link to a Tessellations Web Page from Highland Middle School with student work from various other schools. There is also an excellent Tessellation Tutorial (a Web unit from the Math Forum) with lots of valuable links, historical and geographical connections and related student projects.