From the school year 2018/2019 onwards, the Scienteens Lab will offer a new workshop in mathematics entitled: Finding the shortest path? Thanks to graph theory! The course lets the pupils discover various concepts from graph theory and how they can be used to model and solve different problems.
Graph theory, algorithms and bridges of Königsberg
After a brief general introduction to the topic, the pupils will tackle the famous problem of the seven bridges of Königsberg and learn how Leonhard Euler solved it by using theoretical concepts from graph theory. They will also learn how to find the shortest path between two points with Dijkstra’s algorithm, and brainstorm on the popular and still unsolved “Traveling Salesman Problem”. Finally, the PageRank algorithm used by the search engine Google will also be discussed.
During this workshop, a special focus is put on applications of graph theory. This way, the pupils discover there are many situations where theoretical concepts are actually used to solve problems arising in daily life, for example in logistics or route planning. Furthermore, pupils are invited to actively participate in the workshop and in many practical exercises, they have the opportunity to test by themselves the concepts addressed by the workshop.
Successful test run with a first class!
Last week, the pupils from the 3rd B of the Athénée de Luxembourg were the first ones to participate in the new workshop. This first test run was very successful and the course will be offered on a regular basis starting next September, in addition to the existing workshop on cryptography! Another novelty: the Scienteens Lab will offer this workshop either as a full-day or a half-day course, and in the latter case, teachers will be able to choose their preferred time slot.
To know more, go the webpage dedicated to the mathematics workshops.