Tiling can be really beautiful and deeply mathematical. Looking at tilings we can think about the base units that make up the pattern and see the symmetry that makes it shine! In this activity, we invite students to look at tile patterns and identify single units that when repeated, make up the whole pattern. You can watch the video below for some examples. Do you have any cool tile patterns in your house? You can also find lots of cool tile patterns online, and at the end of the video, we are including images from the original task in the book so you can screenshot those and use them as well.
For younger students, you can also look at the shapes of the tiles, identify them, and count how many there are of each.
This lesson is adapted from the lesson, Seeing Unit Rates, in book 6 of the Mindset Mathematics Series.