By Michael Hartley
Here comes the Tizits!
Get yourself a pencil and a ruler, and download a Tizit. The text will explain how the "Westminster Whimsy Works" distributes pictures of "irrational objects," and invites you to draw one.
Then, there's a scattering of labeled points, and instructions showing you which ones you should join together. Join the dots as instructed, carefully with ruled lines, and a Tizit will appear!
The Westminster Whimsy Works, as well as the Tizits, are the whimsical brainchild of Mac Oglesby, a retired math teacher. There are 30 Tizits you can download from this page. Each one creates an impossible picture, like the famous "Penrose Triangle" or the "Blivet". When you look at one, you naturally ask yourself "What is it?", hence the name "Tizit."
Here's a colored-in picture of a Tizit:
I showed Mac Oglesby this picture, and he said "I somehow prefer the children's work." Me too. I'd love to replace the picture above with some colored-in Tizits made by your kids. So, if you use these Tizits in your classroom or home, do take the time to scan in the kids' work, and send them to me. I'll set up a gallery page with all the submissions I get!
You'll need to download the Tizits first, so here they are. Be sure to carefully read the instructions showing which dots to join. Capital letters matter! Don't get 'c' and 'C' mixed up!
- Tizit 1 - The blivet
- Tizit 2 - Another blivet
- Tizit 3 - Yet another blivet
- Tizit 4 - A fourth blivet
- Tizit 5
- Tizit 6
- Tizit 7
- Tizit 8
- Tizit 9
- Tizit 10 - The strange 'picture frame' shown above
- Tizit 11
- Tizit 12
- Tizit 13
- Tizit 14
- Tizit 15
- Tizit 16
- Tizit 17
- Tizit 18 - The small blue picture at the top of this page
- Tizit 19
- Tizit 20
- Tizit 21
- Tizit 22
- Tizit 23
- Tizit 24
- Tizit 25
- Tizit 26
- Tizit 27
- Tizit 28
- Tizit 29
- Tizit 30
Have fun! And don't forget to send me your kids' colored Tizits so I can post them here for the world to see!