The little plate is a gift from my daughter. It was purchased in Granada, Spain. Its colorful charm is typical of Spanish ceramics. Entire exterior walls of houses may be hung with lovely plates. They are set off like jewels against the white stucco by the brilliant Andalusian sun.

Though this plate is technically not a tessellation, it is reminiscent of Moorish mathematical art. The palace of the Alhambra in Granada was the last stronghold of the Moors before their expulsion by Los Reyes Catholicos in 1492. The Alhambra is a treasure house of tessellaltions. These can be seen in the mosaic work of the walls, ceilings, and floors and in household ceramics of the period.

The plate leads to two ideas to be explored: tessellations and circles.

These two ideas, tessellations and circles, reveal the close and lovely, mysterious and inevitable intertwining of math and art....wherein designers of curriculum may find endless delight!

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