Do-It-Yourself Tessellation Project:   Easy Paper+Pencil Equilateral Triangle Spin Method

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This tessellation art project starts with an equilateral triangle. In the Heesch way of describing tessellations, the art you can make with this method is called a C3C3C6C6.

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Page 1: Tools for Tessellation Project c3c3c6c6 Page 2: Make 2 dots on the edge of a strip of paper Page 3: Make dots on the other 2 strips Page 4: Draw a Rectangle
1. Things you'll need 2. Make 2 dots on the edge of a strip of paper 3. Make dots on the other strips, the same distance apart as on the 1st strip 4. Rip the tracing paper in half.
Label both parts
Page 5: Trace that Rectangle Page 6: Draw a Rectangle Page 7: Draw a Rectangle Page 8: Draw a Rectangle
5. Line up the dots and trace that triangle onto the "mama" paper. 6. Check your work: You have 3 equal sides and 3 equal interior angles? 7. Fold the triangle in half so 2 angles meet and one side is bisected. 8. Do that twice more
(for the other 2 triangle sides)
Page 4: Draw a Rectangle Page 4: Draw a Rectangle Page 1: Tools Copy squiggly line onto MAMA
9. With pencil, trace those folds inside the triangle. It makes 3 "kite" shapes. 10. Trace one "kite" shape onto the paper called "papa". 11. Draw a random squiggly line along a long side of papa's kite. Inside or outside or both = OK. 12. Trace that squiggly line onto the paper called "mama".
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Page 3: Label the Paper Page 4: Draw a Rectangle Page 4: Draw a Rectangle Page 16: Decorate it. It's finished!
13. Copy that squiggly line onto the OTHER long side of papa's kite. 14. Check that for line #2, inside-the-kite becomes outside, and vice versa. 15. Trace line #2 onto the paper called "mama". 16. Trace lines #1 and #2 onto all the long sides of mama's 3 kites.
Page 3: Label the Paper Page 4: Draw a Rectangle Page 4: Draw a Rectangle Page 16: Decorate it. It's finished!
17. Make another squiggly line, this time on a short side of papa's kite. 18. Copy that line onto all 3 short sides of mama's 3 kites. 19. Trace that line back onto the other short side of papa's kite. 20. What's it look like? Change the lines a little so it looks more like that thing.
Page 3: Label the Paper Page 4: Draw a Rectangle Page 4: Draw a Rectangle Page 16: Decorate it. It's finished!
21. With a soft dark pencil or crayon, trace the outline on the BACK of papa. 22. Put papa atop your drawing paper, right side up. Push hard and retrace the outline. The outline copies itself! 23. Repeat steps 21 and 22. Keep all the short sides together. 24. Repeat steps 21 and 22 all over the drawing paper.
Page 3: Label the Paper Page 4: Draw a Rectangle Page 4: Draw a Rectangle Page 16: Decorate it. It's finished!
25. Use a thick black pen to make the outlines (ONLY outlines) black and thick. 26. Pick 3 contrasting colors. Use only color #1 to color-in 1/3 of the kites, arranged in rings of 6. 27. Use color #2 for 1/3 of the kites, arranged in rings of 6. 28. Use color #3 to to color-in the last 1/3 of the kites.



MORE TESSELLATIONS MADE BY USING THIS DO-IT-YOURSELF TESSELLATION LESSON