Activity Overview
In "The Janus List", a bomber is threatening to blow up a bridge. The bomber calls Charlie and asks him a series of seemingly meaningless questions. Charlie later realizes that the questions are clues to decode a secret message. Charlie compares this to the knapsack problem because every clue contributes something to the end result.
Students will analyze the knapsack problem.
Before the Activity
Download the attached PDF and look over the Teacher Page.
During the Activity
Discuss the materials from the Student Page with your class.
After the Activity
Encourage students to explore web sites and questions from the Extensions Page.