Patterns and Optical Patterns

Pattern proved to be a fairly difficult concept for my students. I assumed that it would be an easy concept for middle schoolers who should have already covered it in math but it turned out it was a reteach moment. 

The assignment was as follows: 

1. Draw 2 triangles, 2 rectangles, and 2 squares 
2. All of the shapes must overlap another shape at least once. 
3. Each shape needs to have a different pattern in color
4. When each shape overlaps another shape, you need to change the color scheme
5. The background of the paper should have a black and white pattern. You only need one. 

Materials: 
1. Graph paper
2. Sharpie or think markers though you could probably use anything but crayons

The results were mixed. Many kids did checkerboard patterns in different colors and called it a "different" pattern. 



Next we introduced Optical Patterns and discussed the difference between a pattern and an optical pattern. We looked at the work of many optical artists before we started creating our own. I gave them a worksheet I found on Pinterest and asked them to sketch some examples of optical patterns before they put their patterns onto a cube. 

Materials for Optical Cube: 
- Card-stock
- Markers of colored pencils

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