Problem Solving Simulation

How did you interpret the problem? When I was interpreting the problem I was trying to look at the whole picture. When in all reality I should have been breaking down the problem into sections so I could concentrate on the issue at hand.

I will have to admit that shook my head allot over this because it was hard to look outside the box, as one might want to say. The goal was to get all three animals to the other side of the river without any of them being harmed by one of the other animals. The cat would eat the mouse if left alone, or the dog and the cat would fight if left alone.The strange part was the mouse and the dog could not be left on the other side of the bank either.

What strategy did you use and how did you evaluate your progress? The strategy I took was that to find most common problem between the three animals. When I was evaluating the possibilities of getting them all three over the river it was overwhelming at first. I was able to attain that the main problem was the cat. The cat did not get along with the dog, nor did it get along with the mouse. The only obvious thing to do was to get the cat across the river first. This way the dog and the mouse were safe on the other bank.

My problem was once I got the cat across the river and came back for one of the other animals I soon realized that either one I took next would cause a problem with the cat. Did you encounter any obstacles while solving the problem? I was upset that I could not get my mind to look outside the box. There had to be a reasonable solution to this problem. A few obstacles were encountered along the way while I was trying to solve this mystery.

I would take the cat over first which was fine, because the dog and mouse was okay while on the original side of the river.As soon as I would take over one of the other animals with the cat all heck broke loose due to the cat not getting along with either the dog or the mouse. I knew there had to be an easier answer to this problem. After thinking carefully, I took the dog over first then the cat and mouse fought and then when I took the mouse over first then the dog and cat fought.

It almost seemed impossible. Were you aware of this thought process as you worked through the problem? Then after careful consideration and the knowledge I had that the cat had to be the instigator in all this fighting I knew for sure that the cat had to go first.After reading the assigned reading to this issue I knew the answer was outside the box. I will admit that I even placed this task to my mom just to see if she would be as stumped as I was.

Now as a recap; I knew the cat was the bad guy in this scenario, so the problem was how would I get the other two over there safely? Then it came to my mom and me! Wow what a revelation it was. Yes the cat was the mean one, and could not be left alone. So, you had to send the cat over first and return raft for another animal.Once you had the other animal over to the bank you had to put the cat back onto the raft and leave him alone on the first bank. This gave you the time you needed to get the other animal over to the other side.

So in all reality the cat was the first one to cross over to the other side and the last one to be left on the first side. I do have to say this was a mind stretcher of an activity. I do enjoy trying to figure things like this out. It may take me a while but it is awesome when you do figure it out, at that point you knew you looked outside the box and found your answer.