Geometry: New Tools for New Technologies: Hour 2: Unit 6: Hidden Connections: Graph Theory

How is geometry used to program a robot's movement? How do zoo planners use geometry to make habitats that are enjoyable and safe? Why do people who plan garbage pickups and snowplow routes need geometry? Geometry: New Tools for New Technologies I and II explore the exciting world of Geometry in the 20th century.

The six shows in this video series demonstrate contemporary geometry in action. In the videos, your students learn about applications to architecture, archaeology, DNA research, packaging design, fire station location, scheduling events, and others. The accompanying print materials give your students the opportunity to take part in the mathematical modeling of these situations. The videos range in length from about 8 minutes to about 11.5 minutes. The print materials for each video include a video viewing guide, a set of discussion questions, and one or two sets of exercises.

Unit 6: Hidden Connections: Graph Theory (10:29)

Summary of the Video

The video depicts a day in the cyberspace life of Jason, who operates GEOnet, a geometry site on the World Wide Web. Jason's callers include a band manager who is trying to find the cheapest way to route the band on a tour, a schedule director for a community center who is trying to avoid conflicts when scheduling the center's activities, and a girl who is trying to arrange dates for her friends. Several other callers, including a secretive caller from the Pentagon, suggest ways to use graphs and matrices to solve the problems.

Following the video, students take a closer look at the activity scheduling and band routing situations. They consider matrix and graph representations of the situations and develop their own algorithms for solving the problems.

Video support materials are available as part of COMAP full membership. Each video is accompanied by a user's guide with reproducible student exercises and quizzes.