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Traffic can have problems with congestion, and without well-designed rules the system might even come to a stop
The same happens on computer networks which need to be designed carefully to make sure
that information is delivered quickly to the right place
To give an idea of the problems involved we are going to be passing fruit around a network of five people
The goal will be to get each person to hold the right colour of fruit like this
To start the activity, the fruit is distributed randomly
You are only allowed to pass fruit to someone beside you who has an empty hand
This move isn't allowed because the blue boy isn't next to the green girl
You may have to give up your own coloured fruit to help the team reach the goal
With a bit of cooperation
each person ends up with the right pieces of fruit
You can experiment with different layouts for your network.
The straight-line version isn't as hard as it might seem at first
For more information about this activity and the Unplugged project, visit our website
at csunplugged.org