1. Docent Setup List: Docent Clean up List:
Tessellations – Escher Inspired
Docent Setup List:
Docent Clean up List:
Pull your paper and lesson plan from your teacher file. Give each student a white Paper
Pull the lesson bin and give each table :
Basket of tracer shapes
1 laminated handout
From the island and sink area pull :
The Watercolor paints and give each table 3-4 trays.
Pencils (1 each)
1 blue tray
Brushes (1 each)
Water cups (2 per table)
Sharpie
Make sure names are on back of art
Place completed art work on drying racks – remember to label with teachers name
Wipe down tables, refill any items and return to bins as you found them
Close the lens cap to turn the projector off
Send to parents about the lesson – thanks for doing this and leading the lesson!

2. Tessellations Art@Booksin
Welcome in the students. State the lesson name.

3. Today’s Lesson Skill Development: Tessellations
Introduction to tessellations
Introduction to M.C. Escher
You will learn:
What a tessellation is
Be able to tessellate simple shapes
To tessellate in the style of Escher
Today you will learn about combining art and math to create your own Escher inspired tessellation art piece.
Explain the lesson objective and description.

4. What is a tessellation? Tessellations
A tessellation of a flat surface is the tiling of a plane using one or more geometric shapes, called tiles, with no overlaps and no gaps.
The basic idea is that we have figures that have a mathematical shape, which will fill out or tile the plane without leaving any gaps or holes.  The mathematical shapes can be transformed into plant, animal, or even human shapes and still tile the plane nicely.
The internet has many, many websites dedicated to the exploration of these shapes and the use of repetition and patterns

5. Real life examples of tessellations:
The word "tessellate" means to form or arrange small squares in a checkered or mosaic pattern. It comes from the Greek tesseres, which means "four." The first tiling's were made from square tiles. As an art form, tessellation is particularly rich in mathematics, with ties to geometry, topology and group theory. Cultures ranging from Irish and Arabic to Indian and Chinese have all practiced tiling at various levels of complexity. This slide explores the wide variety of tessellations we find in nature, functional design and art.

6. Who is M.C. Escher: Tessellations
He was born in Leeuwarden, the Netherlands
M.C. Escher, during his lifetime, made 448 lithographs, woodcuts and wood engravings and over 2000 drawings and sketches.
Like some of his famous predecessors, - Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, M.C. Escher was left-handed.
The Dutch master, M.C. Escher, is considered to be one of the best investigators of this art and mathematics combination, while the geometric work of the Moors at the Alhambra in Grenada, Spain are equally famous. Apart from being a graphic artist he illustrated books, designed tapestries, postage stamps and murals.

7. Escher’s influential tessellation art:
Tessellations
Escher’s influential tessellation art:
M.C. Escher
‘Two Birds’
1938
I can hardly think about tessellations without thinking of the work by the Dutch artist M.C. Escher who did some amazing work in tessellations. This is a picture of one of his paintings called “Two Birds”. Here is a great example of duality and symmetry.

8. Tessellations
M.C. Escher
‘Lizard’
1942

9. Process: Tessellations Put your name on the paper, flip it over
Select your shape tracer
Trace around it in pencil until page full, no overlaps and no gaps, each shape should touch
Paint in tessellations – make sure no two shapes of the same color are touching
Trace lines with black sharpie
Docents – students are encouraged to start anywhere, this adds to the complexity. The pattern will simply fall off the page
Makes sure students have their shapes touching, there should be no gaps
Once dried the art piece really pops if you (the docent) go back and outline the tessellations in black sharpie.

10. Tessellations Art@Booksin
Docents have this slide on the screen while students are working on their piece – thank you!

11. Adapted from MrsbrownART.com
Docents you could play this whilst students are working, it’s a scrolling set of Escher tessellation art works set to The Verve’s ‘Bittersweet Symphony’
Adapted from MrsbrownART.com
Art history lesson slides are from various sources.
by Tara Button, Art theory from various sources
April 2016, updated September 2017