Ruthfred Shopping Center
3400 South Park Rd
Bethel Park
(Left to right): Rocco Capozzoli, Brian Walker, Keaira Griffiths, Lucy Heckla and Paisley Steban-Streshenkoff proudly show
off their partially finished tessellation drawings.
FOURTH GRADERS CREATE
TESSELATION DRAWINGS
F
ourth grade
students in Mrs.
Eckert-Graffam’s art
classes at Lincoln and
Penn Elementary Schools
learned about the
artwork of M.C. Escher
and made their own,
eye-popping tessellation
drawings.
Tessellation is defined
as an arrangement of
shapes closely fitted
together without gaps or
Mrs. Eckert-Graffam helped the students to better understand how their puzzle
overlapping. Mrs. Eckert-
pieces fit onto the paper for their tessellation drawings.
Graffam describes it as
“puzzle pieces that fit only a
certain way.”
To help the students with their shapes, Mrs. Eckert-Graffam provided the students with
their choice of stencils in a variety of shapes, including elephants, kangaroos, butterflies and
dinosaurs.
The students selected a design, drew their patterns on a piece of paper and then had to
select a color palette to color in their designs. Some students opted for four or five colors,
while others kept their choices to two contrasting colors, such as black and white.
Mrs. Eckert-Graffam saw a natural tie in with this
particular art project and the PSSA math exams, which
contain questions about tessellation. “This project is
very math/geometry related,” she explains. “By having
the students work on this in art class, they can begin
to tangibly see the connections between what they
worked on in class and what they’re asked to answer on
the PSSAs.
“I also think it’s extremely important for students
to see a connection between math and art and this
project definitely ties the two together rather nicely.”
The projects turned out beautifully and the students
enjoyed participating.
Once their drawings were finished, the
students then had to select a color palette.
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412-833-5282
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Dr. Brian McDonough, DC
Your favorite
Chiropractor
is in your
neighborhood!
Sunday, Monday
and Wednesday
6534 Library Rd. (Rt.88)
South Park
(just down from St. Joan of Arc)
Text or Call
412-867-1715
Bethel Park | Summer 2017 | icmags.com 59