Laser-cut Islamic Windows

Here's one for advanced, self-motivated 10th or 11th graders. It's tricky—but it's great for a motivated few. I usually offer this as an OPTION for students who want to level-up their Illustrator skills. Aspiring architects or graphic designers opt in.

You need Adobe Illustrator. This program lets you build grids from which you'll make repeating patterns. The student might try making a few islamic patterns like this or this.

Making grids is trickier than it sounds because these aren't rectangular—they often mix different-sized hexagons or octagons.

More than that, the shapes have to be connected like a stencil. When done correctly, the technique produces windows like these:

Ideally, you'll pair a student who wants to learn Adobe Illustrator with one who wants to learn arduinos. Then the arduino student programs the LEDs (perhaps changing colors or intensities) that will sit behind the islamic windows, encased in a wax paper lightbox.