Topology

This module from the Nuffield Foundation introduces simple ideas of topology starting from informal considerations of topological transformations progressing to work on networks (the bulk of the content) and ending with an investigation into map colouring.

The resource includes:

*Notes for the teacher including a very brief introduction and answers to the questions

*Questions 1-3: the notions of region and boundary, the number of times a connecting line cuts a boundary

*Questions 4-6: idea of a topological transformation.

*Questions 7-11: networks and traversibility, Königsberg Bridge Problem

*Questions 12-15: route matrices

*Questions 16-18: Euler’s network formula

*Questions 19-20: colouring maps – are more than four colours needed?

The module consists of 20 questions or activities, which could be turned into workcards, and the brief teachers' notes which include answers to the questions.