SparklyUnicorn Posted November 4, 2016 Share Posted November 4, 2016 Something I just always wanted to ask. What is the point of studying them? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hammfried Posted November 5, 2016 Share Posted November 5, 2016 Wait, are we supposed to be studying them? :) We mostly enjoy them as art for now, making our own tiled art. DD likes making and finding patterns in things so tessellations are like a visual gold mine for her. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted November 5, 2016 Share Posted November 5, 2016 I was taught under math enrichment. It was one of those topics where visual spatial kids who are weaker in algebra can enjoy. It made math class less boring for me to. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted November 5, 2016 Share Posted November 5, 2016 It is an attempt to make math class "inclusive." IMO, it's just a waste of time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted November 6, 2016 Author Share Posted November 6, 2016 It is an attempt to make math class "inclusive." IMO, it's just a waste of time. I never saw it in any textbook until SM. We read through it in one day and did a couple of the exercises out loud. I couldn't figure out the point of covering it. I could see if my kids said oh wow this is so fun and puzzly, but neither of them did. So I just always wondered why on earth an entire chapter was dedicated to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted November 6, 2016 Share Posted November 6, 2016 I never saw it in any textbook until SM. We read through it in one day and did a couple of the exercises out loud. I couldn't figure out the point of covering it. I could see if my kids said oh wow this is so fun and puzzly, but neither of them did. So I just always wondered why on earth an entire chapter was dedicated to it. By SM, do you mean Singapore? Because I'm pretty sure the the first time I saw it was in Saxon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted November 6, 2016 Author Share Posted November 6, 2016 By SM, do you mean Singapore? Because I'm pretty sure the the first time I saw it was in Saxon. Saxon?! I have a hard time believing that. I did not see the elementary Saxon books though so maybe. It just does not strike me as a typical Saxon topic. I definitely saw it in Singapore Math. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted November 6, 2016 Author Share Posted November 6, 2016 Well apparently it is covered in some of the Saxon math books. Interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted November 6, 2016 Share Posted November 6, 2016 Saxon?! I have a hard time believing that. I did not see the elementary Saxon books though so maybe. It just does not strike me as a typical Saxon topic. I definitely saw it in Singapore Math. I just checked. Yup, it's in Saxon 6/5--Investigation 12. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rose Posted November 7, 2016 Share Posted November 7, 2016 They're in MEP too. I love them but I'm a self-diagnosed aspie. I see tessellations everywhere. Wallpaper and linoleum dazzle me. They do seem pretty pointless though. On second though, they're good for demonstrating how the angles in a quadrilateral add up to 360 degrees. Since any quadrilateral can tessalate (try it), all four corners meet at a point with no gaps and thus demonstrate that the angles of the original quadrilateral add up 360 degrees. There are probably proofs to be made for the interior angles of other polygons to but quadrilaterals are the most straight forward. This conversation is making me drool. I need to go play with some geometry tiles. :) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ausmumof3 Posted November 7, 2016 Share Posted November 7, 2016 The kids had a story book about tesselations. The real life application is if you can figure out how to manufacture stuff from a shape that tessellates you can minimise your material consumption and reduce costs basically. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ausmumof3 Posted November 7, 2016 Share Posted November 7, 2016 https://www.amazon.com/Toads-Tessellations-Charlesbridge-Math-Adventures/dp/1580893554 This was the book in case anyone was interested. It was a fun story. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathleen. Posted November 7, 2016 Share Posted November 7, 2016 Tessellations are for kids who love the puzzle aspect of math. Definitely for more of a mathy kid that really enjoys the complexity and beauty of math. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bookbard Posted November 8, 2016 Share Posted November 8, 2016 I replied in the other thread but I don't think you saw it. There has been some good research linking ability in spatial awareness to later maths ability. So being able to mentally rotate shapes, discern background and foreground, and understand perspective are all important for later maths. I am pretty sure someone linked an article fairly recently about it, how a small intervention in the early days could have big payoffs. I used a handwriting program from the UK for my daughter (write from the start, I believe?) which focused on spatial stuff. I was astonished that, for example, in a page of pictures she couldn't tell what was foreground and what was background. It was just so obvious to me. However, we covered tesselations in year ten. That is a bit late I reckon. I would say that playing with tesselations as a little kid, preschool, kindergarten, using real tiles and maybe building up complexity over time would be the most effective. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted November 8, 2016 Author Share Posted November 8, 2016 Tessellations are for kids who love the puzzle aspect of math. Definitely for more of a mathy kid that really enjoys the complexity and beauty of math. I enjoy math, but I don't enjoy this sort of stuff. Kinda like I enjoy reading about science a lot, but I hate science "experiments". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted November 8, 2016 Author Share Posted November 8, 2016 The kids had a story book about tesselations. The real life application is if you can figure out how to manufacture stuff from a shape that tessellates you can minimise your material consumption and reduce costs basically. Now this makes sense to me. I can imagine this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathleen. Posted November 8, 2016 Share Posted November 8, 2016 The kids had a story book about tesselations. The real life application is if you can figure out how to manufacture stuff from a shape that tessellates you can minimise your material consumption and reduce costs basically. Thanks for the link. I just put it on hold. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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