Last week in art, all of my students learned about the ancient Asian artform of creating mandalas. Mandala actually means "circle" in Sanskrit (an ancient Indian written language). However, mandalas are much more intricate and meaningful than that. Mandalas are often used to focus attention and deliniate a sacred space.
After looking at many variations of mandalas, we talked about concentric circles and radial symmetry.
Some Tibetan Buddhists create painstakingly detailed mandalas out of sand (like the one below).
I gave each student a 9 x 9 square piece of heavy weight watercolor paper (90 pound). First students drew a large circle. Then, they divided the circle into 4 equal quadrants. Then, the students added identical lines and shapes in each of the four quadrants; therefore crearting a concentric circle filled with a radialy symmetrical pattern. The results? Well, see for yourself!
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