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Tessellating Capitals

Age 5 to 7
Challenge Level Yellow starYellow star
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Thank you to all those who sent a solution to this challenge. The "Brainiacs" from Southville Primary wrote:


We found that the most simple shape was I and L was also very easy. Z, X and any curved letters were impossible.

Many pupils from Leola Elementary School sent in pictures of the tessellations they managed to produce. Mitchell and Linda both tessellated the letter I, although in different orientations:


letter I

letter I again

Or perhaps Linda's is a squashed letter H? Jelena also chose an I (or an H - it's difficult to tell), but it is a slghtly different shape:



another I

Taylor, Samantha and Jack all chose the letter L. Here are their tessellations:



L

samantha's L

Jack's L

I wonder whether you can identify the similarities and differences in these tessellations?

If you find any more of your own, please send them in.


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The NRICH Project aims to enrich the mathematical experiences of all learners. To support this aim, members of the NRICH team work in a wide range of capacities, including providing professional development for teachers wishing to embed rich mathematical tasks into everyday classroom practice.

NRICH is part of the family of activities in the Millennium Mathematics Project.

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