Art Studio 508 in Tessellations | High School Art Lessons | Reno Nevada

MC Escher Metamorphosis 

Let's talk TESSELLATIONS. Tessellations are tilings created by juxtaposing shapes next to one another.  I'd love to see students discover tessellations through an open ended question and the internet. As a teacher, I feel we often give so much away. It's in the discovery that we learn so much. One fact leading to another connection and so on. For example, a quick Google search will bring a student to understand tessellations in math, science, nature, folk arts, metallurgy, artists, history, and materials conservation; well, beyond simply placing colored hexagons on paper. My role as an art educator is to develop their artistic skills by developing their own critical thinking abilities.

I want to encourage the role of discovery and research in my students' learning. Let me give a brief example. After this project, I was driving to school and a song I had never heard came on the radio, Tessellate by Alt J. It was a sultry rhythmic song whose chorus struck a chord in me;

Triangles are my favorite shape
Three points where two lines meet
Toe to toe, back to back, let's go, my love; it's very late
'Til morning comes, let's tessellate

With the sheer mention of tessellate, I hurried into the studio (classroom) and Googled the song. What happened next propelled our class into what became known as Film Friday--a day of thought provoking issues and think tanks through art. In my opinion, exactly what learning should look like. Pose a question, offer an image, a problem and let them discover its meaning.  If I had given them a worksheet or explain everything in a powerpoint, I'm robbing them of this multi-faceted, connected, hopping from lily pad to lily pad approach to learning. Learning should be an experience, not an activity that scores a 70% and time to move on.  According to my report cards, I did well in high school but no one could assess the merit of the real and most valuable experiences I learned in Ms Burnett's Sci-Fi/Fantasy class. She allowed us to discover and explore the big questions through literature. We discovered ourselves and our ability to navigate tough questions in life. She showed us how to look deeper, to investigate the possibilities. I want to teach guide like her. I want to see less handouts and more discovery.

Next year, this is the approach I will be taking with this opening project. For additional math connections, check the Math is Fun site for examples and play with the tessellation creator.

Click here to read more about using music videos in the classroom and how Alt-J helped me become a better educator in part II.