Summary: Decorating a flat surface with a repeating polygon, such as a square, triangular or hexagonal tile, while avoiding imperfections is known as tessellation. Imagine a vibrant, alternating color pattern of a parquet floor in a lobby, the mesmerizing graphic artworks of the famous Dutch artist M. C. Escher, or a honeycomb of a bee hive. Tessellated surfaces can be aesthetically appealing, address structural constraints, or both!

 

In this activity, students learn:

• How ancient Greek mathematicians and medieval Islamic architects invented ways of complex tessellations, be it for achieving mathematical elegance or divine artistic beauty.

• How viruses, our minuscule yet infectious archenemies from the microbial world, build their capsids based on exactly the same geometric principles in order to enclose their genetic material.