last modified 3/17/01

One section is "Solving Problems" and its components are trimmed in
terra cotta.

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Introduction to Graphs - Visitors sort various dot/linerepresentations to match real world and abstract relationships shown.  The unit lights up and dumps out when correct matches are made. related teacher manual page
museum explainers or demos
links of interest on the WWW
larger pictures
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Critical Path - Visitors order morning tasks to leave the house in record time - a problem related to managing the Apollo space program. related teacher manual page
museum explainers or demos
links of interest on the WWW
 
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Perfect Matching - To staff a block party, visitors connect each multi-skilled person with a particular job to ensure that all jobs are filled with appropriately skilled personnel.
museum explainers or demos
links of interest on the WWW
larger pictures
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Nine Fire Stations - Visitors are challenged to place fire stations on a city grid to provide full protection with the least number of stations.  The unit lights up and dumps out when the entire city is protected.
museum explainers or demos
links of interest on the WWW
larger pictures
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Traveling Salesperson - Visitors try to figure the shortest way to circumnavigate the globe via cities shown on a large
globe. The globe lights their route and calculates their
mileage as they go.
related teacher manual page
links of interest on the WWW
larger pictures
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3-Utility - Visitors try to connect each of three houses to each of three utilities on each of three differently shaped surfaces. The number of holes in the surface affects the solution. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

(The prototype used wipe-off marker, but that was too expensive)

related teacher manual page
links of interest on the WWW
larger pictures
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4 Color Mapping - Visitors use pieces of four different colors to complete maps and color graphs - learning that for maps (graphs) on a plane, you never need more than four colors. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A seven-color torus study model is included.  Again, the number of holes in map's surface affects the solution.

related teacher manual page
links of interest on the WWW
larger pictures
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Brachistochrone - Visitors place competing cars on straight and curved tracks. They discover that the quickest route is not always the shortest or straightest.
links of interest on the WWW
 
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Coding - Visitors watch animated sequences that explain how satellite information is sent to earth in coded form and later decoded. Visitor gets a chance to be the computer, detecting and correcting errors in a sample code that has been degraded with noise.  In another game, visitors, experience how some codes can correct far more errors than others.
related teacher manual page
museum explainers or demos
links of interest on the WWW
 


Link to the main Beyond Numbers Table of Contents
Link to the Playing with Abstractions section
Link to the Finding Patterns section
Link to Teacher Manual Table of Contents
Link to Maryland Science Center
Link to Eisenhower Consortium
Cathy Brady's home site
cathysfiddle@yahoo.com
 
 
 
 
 
 

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