Teacher Guide

Network Builder teacher guide

Use this guide to frame Network Builder as a model of heuristic network search and iterative improvement, not as a black-box solver.

Open application Learner guide Standards and alignment

Lesson Framing

Teacher emphasis

Position the app as an example of optimization in a large solution space.
Have learners compare repeated runs rather than relying on one dramatic network.
Keep model limitations visible: this is an optimization model, not a direct biology simulator.

Suggested sequence

Run the default terminal set once.
Change one search parameter at a time.
Discuss why some settings produce better cost trends without proving a globally best network.

Discussion Moves

Questions to ask

What changed when population size increased?
When did higher mutation seem helpful, and when did it make progress noisy?
How did terminal placement change the shape of a good network?

Model-limit reminders

The app uses a simple evolutionary search strategy, not a proof of globally optimal Steiner trees.
Manual terminal placement is useful for thought experiments, but click accuracy is imperfect.
Use the results as evidence about search behavior, not as a claim that evolution literally solves network planning problems.