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GridColouring at SciFest

To load this construal, copy-and-paste this file (was previously this) into the JS-EDEN Input Window (as at http://jseden.dcs.warwick.ac.uk/scifest), and press Submit. Alternatively, enter the command:

include("construals/SciFest2015/grid-colouring/grid-colouring.js-e");

and press Submit.

A skeletal JSPE presentation has now been developed: this will be the basis for the accompanying playsheet. This can also be loaded by copy-and-pasting it into the JS-EDEN Input Window and pressing Submit. An unfinished prototype for the playsheet has now been prepared - it could benefit from testing.

This construal demonstrates a puzzle - each hexagon must be coloured, with no adjacent hexagons having the same colour, in such a way that four hexagons are red, four hexagons yellow, four hexagons blue and three green. [Actually, simplify this to each colour is used no more than 4 times - and have also engineered the construal so that the maximum number of occurrences of each colour can be changed.]

Coloured buttons are shown on each hexagon, the construal is designed to help the user with solving the puzzle by only showing buttons that lead to a valid move.

This construal illustrates colouring of planar maps and the Four Colour Theorem.

The construal is based on key ideas from JonnyFoss's original prototype.

This is a construal that has potential both for exercises related to solving the puzzle, mathematics, and the nature of making construals.

- solving the puzzle, e.g.

can try solving with or without the computer support

can consider different restrictions placed on number of uses of colours

e.g. find a 3-colouring and express using a systematic definition

- mathematics

map colouring problems

regular hexagons

sin and cos for pi/3 - elementary trig - coordinate systems

- the nature of making construals

dependencies governing the hexagons can be monitored whilst colouring

there is good scope for tractable 'bug' fixes

- e.g. missing hexagons in an adjacency list

- the wrong ordering of points in a hexagon

some 'interesting' adaptations to the interface can be readily made