1. M. C. Escher

2. M C Escher created his ‘tiles’ by basing them on shapes that he knew to tessellate such as triangles, hexagons and quadrilaterals.

3. Today, we are going to create our own Escher-style tessellations by starting with a rectangle and making careful changes ensuring that it will still tessellate

4. Take your rectangle – 6cm x 8cm
Fishy Tessellations 1
Take your rectangle – 6cm x 8cm
Mark the midpoint of each side

5. Cut it out and keep it safe!
Fishy Tessellations 2
Draw a curve like this:
Cut it out and keep it safe!

6. Rotate the shape you have just cut out
Fishy Tessellations 3
Rotate the shape you have just cut out
Place it here

7. Fishy Tessellations 4
Repeat on the bottom

8. Cut out a triangle like this:
Fishy Tessellations 5
Cut out a triangle like this:

9. Rotate and attach like so:
Fishy Tessellations 6
Rotate and attach like so:
Be careful on this step. Many people don’t rotate their shape. If you are unsure – ask.

10. Stick your pieces carefully onto the card
Fishy Tessellations 7
Stick your pieces carefully onto the card
Cut it out. This is your template.

12. Some examples…