Comparing Algorithms
The purpose this lesson is to help students understand that there are many
ways to solve a problem. We can analyze the tradeoffs between different
solutions. This lesson uses problems and solutions from daily lives.
Learning outcomes:
-
Students will understand that there are several correct ways to solve the
same problem.
-
Students will understand that some solutions might have advantages over
other solutions.
-
Students will be able to analyze and communicate their analysis for the
tradeoffs between two different solutions.
Activity
We want to show this concept by having students first notice that the
way things are done at their friends' houses might be different from the
way things are done in their own houses. For example, the toys might
be in a different room, the kitchens might be organized differently,
or the toys might be organized differently.
For example, in our house, we have our toys split between two rooms. This
is because the living room is the nicest for playing - it has a large window
that brings in a lot of light, and it is close to the kitchen, bathroom,
and bedrooms. The family room, however, is farther from the bedrooms, so if
kids are playing there early in the morning, it won't disturb the sleepers.
Therefore, the loud toys are kept in the family room.
You could look at the library in the classroom. What are all the different
ways you could think of to organize the books in our class library?
Color of the cover
Thickness of the book
Subject
Author name
Title name
Tradeoffs:
Color looks the best, but it is hard to find anything
Author name or title are the fastest if you already know what book you
want, but it is not as good for browsing
Subject is good if you know what type of books you like, but you do not
know which book you want to read right now. It is good for choosing a book /
browsing.
Exercise for the students (pre-, post- survey):
Give the students a list of toys and a set of toy bins.
Ask them to identify two different ways of placing the toys in toy bins
and give the tradeoffs between the two. Which would they choose?
OR Ask them to organize their desks and describe why they chose that
particular organization.