Honors Calculus Project Ideas & Information
All writing for these projects must be completed on a word processor. You may also use poster boards for your project and/or presentation. Any other models, lab materials, etc. that you can use are welcomed. Everyone will do an oral presentation on May 14, 18, or 20, 2004 about your project. Depending upon the project you choose, your presentation may be a minimum of 5 minutes to a maximum of 30 minutes. Also you may choose to videotape your project and/or presentation and show this to the class on the above dates. You will be evaluated on your presentation by your peers and Mrs. Land. In order to complete all of the presentations, ALL PROJECTS WILL BE DUE ON Friday, May 14, 2004. You MUST turn in your project on that day, or it will be counted as late and worth 50% of its grade. You also must be present on the day that you sign up to present your topic or you will get zero points for the presentation. If people choose to skip out on the days others are presenting, you will also be penalized 3 points for each day of presentations that you miss.
OTHER IMPORTANT INFO BEFORE CHOOSING YOUR TOPIC
The last day to use the library and to return all materials at Hazelwood Central is most likely around May 12, 2004. Be sure to use your time wisely if you are using the school’s materials. Any materials that belong to Mrs. Land may be checked out only to copy pages in the library; other information from these must be researched during class time or before or after school. Please use the public library and the Internet as other resources for your work.
Once you have chosen your topic from the list below or one of the many resources available to you, please tell me your topic by Monday, May 3, 2004. I will only allow one person to do any one particular project to avoid repetition in our presentations. Be creative and come up with your own topic if none of these are your cup of tea!
This project will count as a performance evaluation grade and will be worth 100 points. The rubric for grading is attached. However, if you choose to write a short story, a song, a play, etc., your rubric may be closer to the following:
Accuracy of mathematical procedures 50 points
Correct use of grammar, spelling, & 20 points
structure (i.e., main idea as first sentence
of paragraphs, details listed in sequence)
Organization (i.e., neatness) 10 points
Creativity 20 points
TOTAL 100 points
Enjoy investigating your topic and be sure to let others critique your ideas, as well as asking me any questions you wish. Good luck and remember this is the last thing you’ll ever do in Calculus---so make it outstanding!
POSSIBLE TOPICS
·Investigate any topic covered in our textbook that we did not do, prepare problems, teach the section to the class, have an in-class activity (sequences & series, physics problems on pressure, Fourier series, Euler’s method for solving differential equations, polar graphing and equations, etc.)
·Research any of the above-mentioned topics that we did not cover and create at least 5 really tough, challenging problems using those concepts as well as others from throughout the year (examples are available) -- There are places on the internet to publish these kinds of problems if you’re interested -- I know I’d love to have some Central students publish something!
·Write a short story with fictional characters (or real people’s names if you dare) that explains a concept of calculus (see http://www.karlscalculus.org/calculus.html for examples)
·Write a song that would teach a calculus concept and make it easier to remember (this should be performed to music, the background song would be your choice but must be school appropriate)
·Create a game for learning some calculus concepts (could be a calculator program, board game, etc.)
·Create at least 3 models of solids of known cross sections using 3 different base shapes and 3 different shaped sections (triangles, squares, etc.)--these must be large enough to use as a model in front of class
·Check out the following websites for additional project ideas (if you choose one of these, print it off and I will contact the author for appropriate use in our class):
http://www2.wheatonma.edu/academic/academicdept/MathCS/faculty/tratliff/writing/home.html
http://www.fandm.edu/Departments/Mathematics/writing_in_math/writing_index.html
http://panther.bsc.edu/~bspieler/projects/calcproj.html
http://www.geom.umn.edu/education/calc-init/ (be careful of this one--this website is not updated or fixed often)
The following topics AND MUCH MORE can be found in the above sites:
*how are rainbows formed? raindrops formed?
*how do beams support loads (bridges)?
*model population growth
*optimization problems in computer software/hardware
*”Tunnel Vision”
*”Crash Course in Calculus”
*”Roses Are Red”
*Newton’s method and fractal patterns
*how to tune a radio
*robotics
*biological/medical applications
*environmental applications
·Look in Mrs. Land's copy of Student Research Projects in Calculus on p. 59-63. This list rates the difficulty of each project. A "4" will probably be too much work for the three weeks we have, however any project rated "2" or "3" would be ideal.
·Look in Mrs. Land's copy of Learning by Discovery for a lab to complete on an advanced topic, or look in Mrs. Land's copy of Applications of Calculus for a problem to study.
·Look in Mrs. Land's copy of Calculus Mysteries & Thrillers for ideas.
·Write a TI-82, TI-83, TI-85, TI-86, TI-89, or TI-92 program (or a computer program using a language you may know) to make a calculus problem easier, use graphics if possible, use the functions available on the calculator, etc. Many of the previously mentioned ideas could have programs written to determine the solutions.
·Learn how to use Mathematica to do calculus problems and teach the class how to use it
·Investigate an architecture problem (i.e., building a structure with the least amount of material) (examples available)
·Look in Mrs. Land’s Mathematics Project Handbook, pages 10-17 for a list of topics; pages 20-21 might get you thinking
There is also an important list of resources in this handbook--please ask Mrs. Land before trudging to the library to look for some of these-- I may have them!!
·Investigate the uses of calculus in business and economics (Mrs. Land has some business calculus books and other resources if you are interested in this)
*arbitrating disputes between labor forces and a company
*how do we measure voting power
*reliability of products
·Look in Mrs. Land’s copy of She Does Math!, which is a conglomeration of articles written by women in many different careers that use math to solve problems every day in their work -- many of their problems may get you thinking
·Research in-depth a particular calculus topic and how it developed--don’t choose this option to get out of doing calculus!!! You will need to thoroughly research mathematicians’ ideas and lives. This project will probably take more time outside of class than many others and also require you to do research at several libraries. Only choose this topic if you’re truly dedicated to what you wish to find.
·Investigate and learn how to use a slide-rule to do some basic arithmetic and calculus problems. If you need access to one, Mrs. Land may be able to help.
·ALL OTHER CREATIVE IDEAS USING CALCULUS WELCOMED--PLEASE DISCUSS WITH MRS. LAND!!!