Tapa Maths

Room 6 have been learning about Tapa at maths time. Rotational and reflective symmetry and translation are all in Tapa cloths. Today we made our own paint for our tapa cloths out of traditional pigments - rust, charcoal, brick, onions skins and turmeric powder. The pigments needed to be mixed with mordants to make it stick to the material. We tried salt, vinegar and baking soda for mordants and found salt to be the best. Binders make the paint the right consistency. We have been making our own and they look great! The pattern is based on nature, flowers, trees and plants. On Monday we are going to use our paint to create a Tapa for Room 6. We have been enjoying this learning and we hope that the tapa will look great when it's done.