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Resources tagged with Compound transformations similar to Maurits Cornelius Escher:

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Broad Topics > Transformations and their Properties > Compound transformations

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Maurits Cornelius Escher

Stage: 2 and 3

Have you ever noticed how mathematical ideas are often used in patterns that we see all around us? This article describes the life of Escher who was a passionate believer that maths and art can be. . . .

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Decoding Transformations

Stage: 3 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:1

See the effects of some combined transformations on a shape. Can you describe what the individual transformations do?

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Mirror, Mirror...

Stage: 3 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:1

Explore the effect of reflecting in two parallel mirror lines.

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Simplifying Transformations

Stage: 3 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3

How many different transformations can you find made up from combinations of R, S and their inverses? Can you be sure that you have found them all?

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Matching Frieze Patterns

Stage: 3 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

Sort the frieze patterns into seven pairs according to the way in which the motif is repeated.

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Combining Transformations

Stage: 3 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

Does changing the order of transformations always/sometimes/never produce the same transformation?

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Going Places with Mathematicians

Stage: 2 and 3

This article looks at the importance in mathematics of representing places and spaces mathematics. Many famous mathematicians have spent time working on problems that involve moving and mapping. . . .

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...on the Wall

Stage: 3 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

Explore the effect of reflecting in two intersecting mirror lines.

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Trees and Friezes

Stage: 3 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3

This problem is based on the idea of building patterns using transformations.

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Mathematical Patchwork

Stage: 2 and 3

Jenny Murray describes the mathematical processes behind making patchwork in this article for students.

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Friezes Using Logo

Stage: 3 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3

Experimenting with variables and friezes.

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Transforming the Letters

Stage: 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:1

What happens to these capital letters when they are rotated through one half turn, or flipped sideways and from top to bottom?

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Bow Tie

Stage: 3 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

Show how this pentagonal tile can be used to tile the plane and describe the transformations which map this pentagon to its images in the tiling.

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Transformation Game

Stage: 3 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

Why not challenge a friend to play this transformation game?

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The Frieze Tree

Stage: 3 and 4

Patterns that repeat in a line are strangely interesting. How many types are there and how do you tell one type from another?

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Frieze Patterns in Cast Iron

Stage: 3 and 4

A gallery of beautiful photos of cast ironwork friezes in Australia with a mathematical discussion of the classification of frieze patterns.

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Who Is the Fairest of Them All?

Stage: 3 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3

Explore the effect of combining enlargements.

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Making Rectangles, Making Squares

Stage: 3 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

How many differently shaped rectangles can you build using these equilateral and isosceles triangles? Can you make a square?

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World of Tan 20 - Fractions

Stage: 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

Can you fit the tangram pieces into the outlines of the chairs?

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Appearing Square

Stage: 3 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:1

Make an eight by eight square, the layout is the same as a chessboard. You can print out and use the square below. What is the area of the square? Divide the square in the way shown by the red dashed. . . .

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World of Tan 9 - Animals

Stage: 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

Can you fit the tangram pieces into the outline of this goat and giraffe?

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World of Tan 2 - Little Ming

Stage: 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

Can you fit the tangram pieces into the outline of Little Ming?

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World of Tan 5 - Rocket

Stage: 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

Can you fit the tangram pieces into the outline of the rocket?

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World of Tan 6 - Junk

Stage: 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

Can you fit the tangram pieces into the outline of this junk?

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World of Tan 3 - Mai Ling

Stage: 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

Can you fit the tangram pieces into the outline of Mai Ling?

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World of Tan 12 - All in a Fluff

Stage: 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

Can you fit the tangram pieces into the outline of these rabbits?

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Squares, Squares and More Squares

Stage: 3 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:1

Can you dissect a square into: 4, 7, 10, 13... other squares? 6, 9, 12, 15... other squares? 8, 11, 14... other squares?

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Transformations Tables

Stage: 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:1

These grids are filled according to some rules - can you complete them?

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Sorting Symmetries

Stage: 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:1

Find out how we can describe the "symmetries" of this triangle and investigate some combinations of rotating and flipping it.

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Paint Rollers for Frieze Patterns.

Stage: 3 and 4

Proofs that there are only seven frieze patterns involve complicated group theory. The symmetries of a cylinder provide an easier approach.

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World of Tan 10 - Butterflies

Stage: 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

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Twice as Big?

Stage: 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:1

Investigate how the four L-shapes fit together to make an enlarged L-shape. You could explore this idea with other shapes too.

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Screwed-up

Stage: 3 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:1

A cylindrical helix is just a spiral on a cylinder, like an ordinary spring or the thread on a bolt. If I turn a left-handed helix over (top to bottom) does it become a right handed helix?

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Counting Triangles

Stage: 3 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:1

Triangles are formed by joining the vertices of a skeletal cube. How many different types of triangle are there? How many triangles altogether?

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Triangular Tantaliser

Stage: 3 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

Draw all the possible distinct triangles on a 4 x 4 dotty grid. Convince me that you have all possible triangles.

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Disappearing Square

Stage: 3 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3 Challenge Level:3

Do you know how to find the area of a triangle? You can count the squares. What happens if we turn the triangle on end? Press the button and see. Try counting the number of units in the triangle now. . . .

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Flight of the Flibbins

Stage: 3 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

Blue Flibbins are so jealous of their red partners that they will not leave them on their own with any other bue Flibbin. What is the quickest way of getting the five pairs of Flibbins safely to. . . .

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Coloured Edges

Stage: 3 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:1

The whole set of tiles is used to make a square. This has a green and blue border. There are no green or blue tiles anywhere in the square except on this border. How many tiles are there in the set?

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World of Tan 1 - Granma T

Stage: 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

Can you fit the tangram pieces into the outline of Granma T?

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World of Tan 24 - Clocks

Stage: 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

Can you fit the tangram pieces into the outlines of these clocks?

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World of Tan 25 - Pentominoes

Stage: 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

Can you fit the tangram pieces into the outlines of these people?

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World of Tan 22 - an Appealing Stroll

Stage: 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

Can you fit the tangram pieces into the outline of the child walking home from school?

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World of Tan 21 - Almost There Now

Stage: 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

Can you fit the tangram pieces into the outlines of the lobster, yacht and cyclist?

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World of Tan 4 - Monday Morning

Stage: 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

Can you fit the tangram pieces into the outline of Wai Ping, Wah Ming and Chi Wing?

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World of Tan 19 - Working Men

Stage: 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

Can you fit the tangram pieces into the outline of this shape. How would you describe it?

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World of Tan 26 - Old Chestnut

Stage: 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

Can you fit the tangram pieces into the outline of this brazier for roasting chestnuts?

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World of Tan 27 - Sharing

Stage: 2 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

Can you fit the tangram pieces into the outline of Little Fung at the table?

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Conway's Chequerboard Army

Stage: 3 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

Here is a solitaire type environment for you to experiment with. Which targets can you reach?

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Chess

Stage: 3 Challenge Level: Challenge Level:2 Challenge Level:2

What would be the smallest number of moves needed to move a Knight from a chess set from one corner to the opposite corner of a 99 by 99 square board?

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Grouping Transformations

Stage: 3, 4 and 5

An introduction to groups using transformations, following on from the October 2006 Stage 3 problems.


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