A student committee is planning the school ball.

The precedence
table lists the tasks that need to be completed.

Task Precedence

A Set a date for the ball and decide on a theme -

B Book a venue for the ball A

C Book a band B

D Organise the catering B

E Design and print invitations B

F Book a photographer B

G Decorate the venue C, D, E, F

H The night of the ball G

4. A family are going to the beach for a swim and a picnic lunch.
Draw a network diagram to show the tasks listed in the
precedence table.

Task Precedence Time taken

A Prepare the food and drink - 30 minutes

B Find swimming togs and towels - 10 minutes

C Pack the car A, B 10 minutes

D Drive to the beach C 20 minutes

E Go for a swim D 40 minutes

F Have a picnic D 30 minutes

 G Pack up and drive home again E, F 30 minutes

STAGE CHALLENGE
Draw a network diagram showing the tasks in this production.

Task Precendence Time taken

A Decide on a theme, script and music - 2 weeks

B Hold auditions for the performers A 1 week

C Performers rehearse the production B 6 weeks

D Costumes and makeup designed A 2 weeks

E Materials purchased for making costumes D 2 weeks

F Costumes made E 4 weeks

G Plan set design A 2 weeks

H Material purchased to build the set G 1 week

I Set is built H 3 weeks

J Dress rehearsal C, F, I 1 week

K Performance J 1 week

The float time

 a.

Task Duration EST LFT Float time

LFT-EST-Duration

A Passengers disembark 5 minutes 0 5 5–0–5=0

B Baggage is unloaded from the plane 9 minutes 0 20 20 – 0 – 9 = 11

C Baggage is in the terminal for collection 3 minutes 9 26 26 – 9 – 3 = 14

D The plane is refuelled 10 minutes 0 20 20 – 0 – 10 = 10

E Cabin cleaning and servicing 10 minutes 5 15 15 – 5 – 10 = 0

F The galley is serviced and restocked 5 minutes 15 20 20 – 15 – 5 = 0

G Aircraft check 4 minutes 20 24 24 – 20 – 4 = 0

H Baggage is loaded for the next flight 8 minutes 12 34 34 – 12 – 8 = 14

I Passengers board for the next flight 10 minutes 24 34 34 – 24 – 10 = 0

b. The critical path is AEFGI. The minimum time for the project is 34 minutes.

SCHEDULING TASKS

Task Earliest start time Duration (minutes) F

A Clean the car 0 30 1

B Polish the cars 30 20 1

C Mow the lawn 0 40 0

D Trim the edges of the lawn 40 20 0

E Sweep the paths 0 15 4

F Put the rubbish in the bin 60 5 0

1. On Saturday morning a family complete jobs around the house.

The table below shows the earliest start times, the duration
and the float times for the different jobs that need to be
completed.
 a. Draw a Gantt chart showing the tasks listed in the table.

b. Find the minimum amount of time that it would take to

complete all the tasks.

c. How many members of the family would need to be

allocated jobs for all the jobs to be completed in a
minimum amount of time?

d. Allocate the jobs to members of a family so that they are

completed in a minimum amount of time. Show the
allocation of tasks on a bar chart.

e. On one particular Saturday morning there are only two

members of a family at home and able to do the
household jobs. Would this make any difference to the
minimum amount of time required to complete all the
jobs?

A possible Gantt chart is shown below.

a. The minimum time to complete all tasks is 65 minutes. This is
the critical path CDF.

b. This would require three family members.

c. Jobs could be allocated as shown in this bar chart. This is one

possible answer. The tasks could be allocated in a number of
different ways.
a. If there are only two family members available the minimum
amount of time to complete all tasks would be 70 minutes. For
example, person 1 could complete tasks A, B, E and F and
person 2 could complete tasks C and D. This is assuming
that task F ‘put the rubbish in the bin’ is completed after all
the other tasks. (Refer to the precedence table in activity 2A
no 3) If task F can be completed before other tasks are
completed then the minimum time to complete the project will
be 65 minutes. For example, person 1 could complete tasks A,
B and E, while person 2 completes tasks C, D and F.