Education Technology

NUMB3RS - Season 3 - "Blackout" - Navigating Networks

Activity Overview

In "Blackout," the team is investigating sabotage at power stations. These stations are part of a network that supplies electrical power to the city. The flow of things such as electricity, traffic, oil, and telephone calls from one place to another can be modeled using a network. In this activity, students will use directed, weighted graphs to maximize this flow through the network and see how this maximum changes when one or more of the stations are eliminated.

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.