With this online activity, students explore the classic mathematics map-coloring question known as the four-color problem. Students must determine the minimum number of colors needed to color a map so that entities sharing a border have different colors. Initially, students investigate the minimum number of colors necessary to color a map of states west of the Mississippi River. The activity's Getting Started section suggests coloring the states in a specific order. The Solution page uses odd and even numbers to explain the mathematics of map coloring. In the Try These section, students solve problems investigating other map-coloring situations and learn how map coloring relates to fields such as city planning. The activity includes a brief history of the four-color problem, which was finally solved using a computer in 1976. This activity is one of 80 mathematical challenges featured on the Figure This! web site, where real-world uses of mathematics are emphasized. Copyright 2005 Eisenhower National Clearinghouse

Summary

Subject keyword(s)	Education, Famous problems, Geometry, Mathematics, Mathematics history, Problem solving, Process skills, Reasoning
Grade level	Middle School, Informal Education
Intended audience	Learner
Resource type	Audio/Visual, Instructional Material
Resource format	image, image/gif, text, text/html
Rights	Content copyright 1999-2002 National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.

Using this resource

Usage Data Summary of usage data Times favorited: 1 Use was recorded from the following sources: Instructional Architect Usage Data

Found in collection(s)

Click on the logo to get more information about the collection.