14 June 1999 Vol. 4, No. 24
THE MATH FORUM INTERNET NEWS
New York Times Lesson Plans | Traveling Salesman |
1999 Summer Workshops
LEARNING NETWORK TEACHER CONNECTION - MATH LESSON PLANS
The NEW YORK TIMES on the Web
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/lessons/mathematics.html
Math lesson plans based on the day's news, by authors
Alison Zimbalist of The New York Times Learning Network,
and Lorin Driggs, The Bank Street College of Education
in New York City.
Math lessons with interdisciplinary extensions explore such
topics as:
- understanding the value of numbers in the newspaper
- calculating refugee camp supply costs
- interpreting opinion polls
- analyzing baseball hall of fame statistics
- learning about company mergers
- exploring comparative economics
- researching epidemics
- unmasking mathematical concepts in the art world
A daily lesson plan archive includes many other subjects,
including history, geography, science and technology:
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/lessons/archive.html
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THE TRAVELING SALESMAN
The problem: find the length of the shortest closed tour
visiting N cities. Here are a few sites to explore:
TSPBIB (TRAVELING SALESMAN PROBLEM) - Pablo Moscato
http://www.ing.unlp.edu.ar/cetad/mos/TSPBIB_home.html
A comprehensive listing of papers, source code, preprints,
and technical reports available on the Internet about the
Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP) and some associated problems
such as Fractal TSP Instances and VRP Instances, with links
to software and Java applets that can be used to explore
the problem.
THE TRAVELING SALESMAN PROBLEM (TSP) - Vasek Chvatal
http://www.cs.rutgers.edu/~chvatal/tsp.html
A collection of sites that includes a link to TSPLIB, Gerhard
Reinelt's library of some hundred instances of the problem,
and to computer code that has solved more than twenty
previously unsolved instances.
THE TRAVELING SALESMAN PROBLEM - A REVIEW OF THEORY AND
CURRENT RESEARCH - Mark H. Noschang
http://www.ececs.uc.edu/~mnoschan/sale.html
This paper introduces the concept in depth using informal
examples and formal graph theory notation, with discussions
of common formulations, some practical applications, past
and current heuristic approaches, and various approximation
algorithms. A bibliography of references is included.
TRAVELING SALESMAN CONSTANTS - Steven Finch, MathSoft
http://www.mathsoft.com/asolve/constant/sales/sales.html
Consider n distinct points in the d-dimensional unit cube.
Of all (n-1)!/2 closed paths (or tours) passing through each
point precisely once, what is the length L(n,d) of the
shortest such path? From Favorite Mathematical Constants:
http://www.mathsoft.com/asolve/constant/constant.html
THE SHOELACE PROBLEM - Ivars Peterson (MathTrek)
http://www.maa.org/mathland/mathtrek_2_8_99.html
How should shoes be laced? There are at least three common
ways to lace shoes, and the lacing style a person uses
depends on a variety of factors, ranging from aesthetic
appeal to tying efficiency. The shoelace question represents
a special, restricted instance of the classic traveling
salesman problem...
THE TRAVELING MONKEY - Ivars Peterson (MathLand)
http://www.maa.org/mathland/mathland_7_7.html
It turns out that vervet monkeys can also solve the
traveling salesman problem; rather than always heading for
the nearest food supply, the monkeys apparently plan their
next three visits to minimize distance and travel time...
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TEACHING ENHANCEMENT SUMMER OPPORTUNITIES - NSF
http://www.ehr.nsf.gov/ehr/esie/teso/
Search this National Science Foundation project database
for "mathematics" in "All" states and "All" grades to find
opportunities for teachers. Disciplines also include other
sciences, engineering, and psychology. Listings display the
name of the project, the state where it will be offered,
the appropriate grade level(s), and whether applications
are still being accepted for summer 1999. For more details
including dates, eligibility requirements, and specific
locations, click on the bullet to the left of each project.
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WORKSHOPS FOR MATH TEACHERS - Math Forum
http://mathforum.org/teachers/workshops/
The Forum also hosts a collection of math and math education
workshop announcements. Browse by level, conduct a keyword
search, or select from our set of categories (location,
topic, date). If you would like us to list your workshop,
we invite you to fill out our submission form.
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