Math 3

COURSE INFORMATION

DAILY SCHEDULE

CSC

STUDY GUIDE

MAPLE

RESOURCES

Math 3 - Calculus

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Mathematics 3 this term is a standard lecture course in introductory calculus that we have revised to make leaner, livelier, and project oriented. The course is taken by mostly first-year students, is taught in two sections in a lecture format, and meets three times per week.

Our projects, under the rubric of Case Studies in Calculus (CSCs), will involve modeling aspects of real-world phenomena with calculus. There will be a total of three CSCs--Rates of Change: Torricelli's Law; Population Modeling; and Integrals as Limits of Sums. In these projects, we will behave as mathematicians attempting to answer questions posed by population demographers or earth scientists, for example. The purpose of the CSCs is to illustrate the power of calculus as a tool in real-world problem-solving. Students may work either individually or as part of a group, though the write-ups must be in each individual's own words.

Together with the ideas of calculus, the computer is an indispensable tool in the analysis process, and by using the computer program Maple students will learn the formidable capabilities of a computer algebra system. We will provide the Maple tools and show how to use them to solve mathematical problems. Students will be filling in a Maple worksheet with graphs, algebra, and numerical analyses, and then reporting on their findings and conclusions.

This term, we will be using calculus to develop mathematical models in three different case studies, and we will be learning the conceptual, analytical, and manipulative techniques that make that possible. Calculus is truly a marvelous intellectual achievement, and we plan to have a lot of fun studying it.



Tom Clark   Jeff Kiralis   Dwight Lahr

DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS
DARTMOUTH COLLEGE
6188 Bradley Hall
Hanover, NH 03755-3551
FAX: (603) 646-1312



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Copyright © 1999 by C. Dwight Lahr