Bridges of Koenigsberg 1
This series of lessons is an excellent start to networks and goes well with students of all abilities.
The work-sheets for students are here on pages 1 to 8.
This too is an excellent project for students. One of the best!
To print this page point the curser on a clear space on the right hand side of the page to be printed. Now right click and the print button should appear. Activate this.
If it does not appear then move the curser to another part of the page and right click again.
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The Bridges of Koenigsberg page 1.
It is a large city. About 450 000 people live here and 1100 000 in the region around it. This city was renamed Kaliningrad in August 1946 and became a very important industrial city of the U.S.S.R.
It has a large port and good railway connections with the rest of Europe. After 1946 Kaliningrad became known as a producer of the mineral amber which is mined nearby. About 95% of the world's amber is found here.
The city was rebuilt in 1946 after being bombed and almost completely during the second World War.
There are two unusual features about Kaliningrad.
One is that it is a city situated outside of its country! At the present time it is separated from its country, Russia, by a distance of at least 500 kilometres. Because of this it is called an enclave of Russia and is governed by that country from quite a distance.
The other interesting fact about Kaliningrad is that it is the place of a very famous mathematical problem. The problem was finally solved by the Swiss mathematician Leonard Euler in 1736 and it was the beginning of a new branch of mathematics called Topology.
Can you find where Kaliningrad is on a map of Europe?
What was the famous mathematical problem?
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