Tilings and border patterns
Count the shapes around a point in a tiling, continue a border pattern by sliding and by reflecting, and find mirror lines.
📖 Start here: read the steps of the “Lesson” in order (1, 2, 3 …) and answer each question. Then continue with “Practice”.
- Germany: grade 3
Guide
A tiling (Parkett) covers a surface with the same shapes and has no gaps and no overlaps. Squares make a tiling: four squares meet at every corner. A border pattern (Bandornament) repeats one motif along a strip.
You can continue a border pattern in two ways. Sliding (translation): the motif moves along the strip without turning. Reflecting: the motif is flipped over a mirror line, like in a mirror.
A figure is mirror-symmetric if a mirror line folds it onto itself. Count carefully: not every line through the middle is a mirror line.