Instructor: Prof. Blake Mellor

MHC 165

6-8614

bmellor@fau.edu

URL: http://www.fau.edu/~bmellor

Office Hours: M 2-4, TTh 2-4, MHC 165

or by appointment

Class Meeting: TTh 9-10:50, F 11-11:50, MAC 206

Text: Precalculus, Rockswald, Hornsby and Lial, 1^st edition (2000).

Required: TI-83+ Graphing Calculator

Objective: This class will be, essentially, an introduction to mathematical modeling. Modeling is the process of finding mathematical functions which describe "real world" situations and processes. You will work on projects involving real (or at least realistic) data, and learn how to construct mathematical models. Along the way, you will become familiar with the basic library of functions you need for calculus: linear functions, polynomials, exponentials, logarithms and trigonometric functions. We will also study the basics of systems of linear equations and matrices, which have important applications in biology, chemistry and environmental science. Most of the projects will involve working with real data, and will hopefully demonstrate how some of the techniques of the class are important to real scientists.

Honor Code: Students agree to adhere to the honor code, the text of which is at http://www.fau.edu/divdept/honcol/students/honorcode.html

Grading: Homework Projects 450 pts

Lectures: We will be doing a variety of activities in class. I will spend some time in class lecturing, both on material from the text and on additional material. However, I will not be covering everything in the text in class, so it is very important that you read the book (see below). We will also spend time in class working individually and in groups on problems which I provide, or from the text. So it is important that you bring your book to each class.

Reading: You are expected to read the section to be discussed in class before class. While I will cover what I consider to be the "high points", I will often not predict exactly which details you might find confusing, so it is important that you read the text and come to class prepared to ask questions.

Homework and Projects: Your weekly homework will consist of two parts.

1. There will be problems assigned from the exercises at the end of each section we cover in the text. These problems will not be turned in. The answers are in the back of the book. You are expected to do as many of these problems as necessary, before the next class, to ensure that you have a firm grasp of the material from that section. Occasionally, you may need to do additional problems on topics you find particularly tricky. Some of these problems will appear, verbatim, on the midterms and the final.
2. Each week, you will also be given an assignment which will be due by class on Tuesday. These will be more complicated modeling projects which involve applying the material covered to date. While these will be graded primarily on their mathematical correctness, the presentation (clarity, spelling, grammar, punctuation, etc.) will count. Late homework will be accepted until class on Thursday, losing 20% each day. After the beginning of Thursday's class, late homework will not be accepted.

Collaboration: You are encouraged to collaborate on homeworks and projects. This means that you may work together to understand and solve the problems, with each member of the group checking and contributing to the work of the others. However, each member of a group must write up their solutions on their own, and must list their collaborators at the beginning of their solution. Failure to do this will be considered plagiarism, which is a gross violation of the honor code and will be dealt with accordingly.

Exams: There will be three one-hour midterm exams, tentatively scheduled for September 21, November 2 and November 30. The final will be a 2 1/2 hour exam on Tuesday, December 11, 7:45-10:15.