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Assignment #1 - Due on Monday, February 2
Turn in a written response to item (3) below.
1) Get your computer account activated. (You should change
your initial password.) Access your Groupwise e-mail account and
send an e-mail message to your instructor. If you have another e-mail
account that you prefer to use, go through the steps to have your SU Groupwise
e-mail forwarded to that preferred account.
2) Log in on the campus computer system and do the following:
a. Use Netscape or Internet Explorer to access your instructor's web
page. Find the home page for this course.
b. Follow the appropriate links and read the letter "To the Student,"
"Tentative Course Syllabus," and the "Instructors' Policies." You
will note that some topics, guidelines, and policies have changed and are
no longer exactly what you find written in the "Cathcart and Horseman"
text "[C&H]."
(3) Write up an analysis of the situation explored in class on
Wednesday, January 28. Include appropriate discussion and express
the relevant relationship using (a) a table, (b) a formula, (c) a graph,
and (d) a complete English sentence.
Look
a a sample student's write-up for this exercise.
4) You will find a scientific calculator very useful. If you
do not have one, you can obtain one good enough for our purposes for about
$10.
5) Read pp. v-viii in the "Preface" to the "Kalman" text "[K]."
6) Read, and work through, Chapter 1," pp. 1-8 in [K].
7) For your own benefit, work the following exercises on pp.
8-9 in [K]:
Reading Comprehension: 1-5 all
Problems in Context: 1-3
all
Return to the home
page for this course .
Look at "
Two Approaches to Problem Solving: An Outline ."
Assignment #2 - Due on Monday, Feburary 9
1. Visit the www site: http://www.towson.edu/csme/mctp/Courses/Mathematics/UnitIIIA.html
When you get to that site, do a complete a write-up for exercise 1 in Section 3.1 Patterns of Change. When you arrive at that site, you will be looking at "Unit III: Things Change" in a set of materials developed by Dr. Jim Fey for a modeling course at UMCP. After completing exercise #1, look under "Conclusions and Connections" and work, just for your own benefit, exercises 1-6 all, but don't submit write-ups for these exercises.
2. Work through Section 3.2 Linear Models of Dr. Jim Fey's "Unit III: Things Change." For your own benefit, try to work the exercises. (You may use a spreadsheet rather than a calculator.) Write up and turn in only exercises 1 and 7. Exercise 1 relates to leasing a car, and Exercise 7 describes a maket survey of prospective bunge jumpers.
Assignment #3 - Due on Monday, February 16
Write up and submit solutions only for the items in parentheses and italics.
1. Read and work through Chapter 2 (pp. 11-28) of the blue "Kalman"
text "[K]."
2. Work the following exercises on pp. 28-31 in the "Kalman"
text "[K]."
a. Reading Comprehension: 4, 5,
6
b. Mathematical Skills: 1, 4,
5
3. Revisit the web site http://www.towson.edu/csme/mctp/Courses/Mathematics/UnitIIIA.html
Do a complete write-up for exercises
8 and 10 in Section 3.2 Linear Models of Dr. Jim Fey's
"Unit III: Things Change." Exercise
8 involves a possible relationship between unemployment
and crime, and exercises 10 asks for
a comparison of two modeling lines.
Return to the home
page for this course .
Look at "
Two Approaches to Problem Solving: An Outline ."
Assignment #4 - Due on Monday, Feburary 23
Write up and submit solutions only for the items in parentheses and italics.
1. Read and work through Chapter 3 (pp. 37-47) of the blue "Kalman"
text. [K].
2. Work the following exercises on pp. 47-50 of the blue text
by Kalman.
a. Reading Comprehension: 3
b. Mathematical Skills: (1b),
(1d), (2b), (2d), (3b), (4b), (7b)
c. Problems in Context: Carefully
write up (3) following the steps on pp. 43-44. Use a spreadsheet
to facilitate
the creation of an attractive table and graph. Put an appropriate
title on your graph
and appropriately
label your axes.
Assignment #5 - Due on Monday, March 1
Write up and submit solutions only for the items in parentheses or italics.
1. Read and work through Chapter 4 (pp. 55-72) of the blue
"Kalman" text [K].
2. Work the following exercises on pp. 72-76 of [K].
a. Reading Comprehension:
2, 3, 9, 10
b. Mathematical Skills:
1, 3
c. Problems in Context:
4
d. Write up the Group Activity
(pp. 75-76). Start early on this activity and work with another person
if
feasible. Work through the steps 1-7 on page 76 and respond in writing
to each question. Your
paper
will be evaluated on its neatness, accuracy, completeness, and style.
Rather than using the
reference
desk at the Library, you may use the internet. In either case, provide
the source of your data.
Return to the home
page for this course .
Look at "
Two Approaches to Problem Solving: An Outline ."
Assignment #6 - Due on Monday, March 8
Write up and submit solutions only for the items in parentheses.
1. Read and work through Chapter 5 (pp. 79-108) of the blue "Kalman"
text [K].
2. Work the following exercises on pp. 108-111 of [K].
a. Reading Comprehension: 1, 3,
4, 5, 9
b. Mathematical Skills: 1, (2),
(3), (6), (8), (10), (13)
c. Problems in Context: (5)
Compare Kalman's predictions with yours.
Assignment #7 - Due on Wednesday, March 17
Write up and submit a solution for the following problem:
Problem #6 on pp. 142-144 of Kalman.
Return to the home
page for this course .
Look at "
Two Approaches to Problem Solving: An Outline ."
Assignment #8 - Due on Wednesday, April 21
Write up and submit solutions for the following exercises.
Show your very best work
(1) Exercise #13 on pp. 75-76 of the yellow modeling text.
(2) Exercise #16 on pp. 78-79 of the yellow modeling text.
Assignment #9 - Due on Wednesday, May 5
Write up the following revised version of Exercise 17 on page 80 of the yellow modeling text.
Revised Exercise 17 on page 80 of the yellow [C & H] text.
Use the data below rather than the graph in Figure 1 on p. 80.
U.S. National Censuses Figures 1790-1900
Years
Resident
Year Since 1790
Population
(in thousands)
1790 0
3929
1800 10
5308
1810 20
7240
1820 30
9638
1830 40
12866
1840 50
17069
1850 60
23192
1860 70
31443
1870 80
39818
1880 90
50156
1890 100
62948
1900 110
75995
a. Construct a graph representing the data in the table. Place appropriate titles and labels on the graph.
b. Construct a table similar to the one in Exercise 8 on p. 71 and consider each decade’s average annual rate of change and each decade’s percent change.
c. Develop both a linear model and an exponential model approximately relating the U.S. resident population, P(t), to the number of years since 1790 over the 110-year period. Comment on how well each of the two models fit the data.
d. Use your models to estimate the size of the U.S. resident population in 1910, 1940, and 2000. Look up the official census figures for those years to determine the accuracy of the estimates derived from your models. Comment on factors affecting the accuracy of your estimates.