College of the Holy Cross
Math 303: Mathematical Models
Complete Schedule (Fall 2006)

Topic: Introduction to the Course, a description of the CBL project (community-based learning project), and an introduction to the concept of mathematical modeling.

HOW TO SUBMIT ON BLACKBOARD: Many assignments this semester will be submitted to me electronically through Blackboard. To do so, write the document up in Word or save as a PDF file. Then log onto Blackboard by clicking on LOGIN off of the main holycross webpage at http://www.holycross.edu. Then, choose the link for Tools. Click on Drop Box. Click on "send file" (not "add file") and you should be all set. The title or subject of your document should follow the format of "Last Name _ Assignment Number". For example, if I were going to submit this first assignment, I would title the document and the submission as "Roberts_#1". Keep a copy of what you submit, in case there is a problem.

#1 Activity Point Opportunity for the entire semester: You can attend up to five talks this semester for activity points. In every case, you attend the talk and submit a one page response essay on Blackboard's Digital Drop Box within 24 hours to receive up to 20 activity points. I will list talks on the schedule when I am aware of them, but if you plan to attend a talk that you think might qualify for activity points, simply send me the information (ahead of time is best). To qualify, the talk must have a quantitative component (mathematical, scientific) or be sponsored by the environmental studies program. Every time you submit one of these assignments, please title it "Your Last Name_#1_speaker's last name". For example, if I went to hear Professor Cecil speak, I would title my submission "Roberts_#1_Cecil".

#2 Activity Point Opportunity due this weekend: (10 activity points, due by midnight Saturday) Submit a one or two page letter to me on Blackboard's Digital Drop Box. This letter should discuss your hopes and plans for Math Models this semester. Why did you decide to take this class? What seems most intriguing to you? What makes you the most anxious? What do you think I can do to help you to succeed in this course? Title this document and your submission "Last Name_#2".

Check it Out: This 1890 British Columbia, Canada high school entrance exam may provide a few minutes' amusement.

Topic: A math model of recreational use in the Grand Canyon

#3 Activity Point Opportunity: For up to 20 activity points, work on these two basic modeling exercises. This assignment is due by midnight on Monday, Sept. 11 (posted on the Digital Drop Box in Blackboard). If you have questions, feel free ot send me email or to come see me during office hours. Assignment

Check it Out: Visit the website for COMAP: The Consortium for Math and Applications. If you click on the Contest tab, you can read about the Mathematical Contest in Modeling (MCM) and the Interdisciplinary Contest in Modeling (ICM). Want to participate? The contest runs from 8 pm on Feb. 9 through 8 pm on Feb. 12. You'd probably want to spend at least ten hours working on the contest during that period of time. The Department will be putting teams together in a few months, so keep this in mind!

REQUIRED FIELD TRIP: Canoe Trip with the Broad Meadow Brook Conservation Center & Wildlife Sanctuary to learn about the Blackstone River and urban watershed issues. We will depart campus at 1:45 sharp from the security kiosk near the main gate. We will return to campus by 5:00. Our hosts will be Donna Williams & Tammy Fitzpatrick. They will discuss efforts to restore the Blackstone River (which starts in Worcester and heads south to Rhode Island) and will describe a project that some of you may choose as your CBL (community-based learning) project for the semester. Wear comfortable clothing & shoes that can get wet. Optional: sunscreen, water, camera, change of clothes, towel.

#4 Activity Point Opportunity due this weekend: (10 activity points, due by midnight Saturday) Submit a one or two page letter to me on Blackboard's Digital Drop Box. Describe your experience on the canoe trip, tell me about what you learned and whether the project you heard described to you today sounds like one you may be interested in participating in this semester. Please feel free to ask me questions in this letter.

#5 Activity Point Opportunity for Friday, assignment due this weekend: (worth up to 10 activity points) Today from 2:00 - 4:00 in the Swords Atrium, students who spent the summer on campus engaged in scientific research will be presenting posters about their projects. Spend an hour at this poster session and engage at least three research students in a conversation about their work. Submit a one to two page description of your experience, including the names of the research students and brief descriptions of their work on the Digital Drop Box of Blackboard before midnight on Saturday.

Check it Out: Blackstone Canal Festival (noon - 5:00). A day of music, events, food, and film. See water on Harding Street (between Winter & Temple) for first time since 1890. Stay for evening and see short films. The Blackstone Canal has a long and interesting history, and you can find out more about this history and about this festival at www.freetheblackstone.com CanalFest
The Blackstone Canal established a commercial link between Worcester and Providence in the early 19th century and still exists in its original location beneath what is now Harding Street. The city’s Blackstone Canal Task Force is promoting the replication of this watercourse between Union Station and Kelley Square, to serve as a catalyst for the growth of a mixed-use district. The purpose of the CanalFest is to raise consciousness and excitement for the project and to celebrate the new life that is already unfolding in the neighborhood.
The CanalFest will take the form of a giant street festival featuring vendors of all sorts; horse-drawn wagon tours of the neighborhood; food concessions from neighborhood restaurants; musicians, dancers and street performers; an “Iron Chef” cooking competition; special canal children’s activities; a film festival. But the best of CanalFest will be the 75’ long, water-filled replica of the Blackstone Canal … sitting just above the buried original. The festival will run from noon to 5 p.m., and well over a thousand visitors are expected. For further information visit our website at www.blackstonecanal.org.

#6 Activity Point Opportunity if you attend the Blackstone Canal Festival: (10 activity points, due by midnight Monday) Submit a one or two page letter to me on Blackboard's Digital Drop Box. Describe your experience at the Festival and tell me about what you learned. Describe any project ideas you may have that are related to the Blackstone canal that you think might be approached using mathematical modeling.

Check it Out: Learn how recent college graduates from around the country are changing that statistic as Teach For America corps members, and how you can join the movement to end educational inequity.
Teach For America Info Session
Monday, September 11, 6:00 p.m.
Senior Apartments
**Pizza will be served**
To learn more, visit www.teachforamerica.org or contact Sara Goldstein at sara.goldstein@teachforamerica.org.

Topic: The steps to Mathematical Modeling & a practice activity

#7 Activity Point Opportunity worth up to 25 points: This assignment is due by midnight on Sunday, Sept. 17 (posted on the Digital Drop Box in Blackboard). If you have questions, feel free to send me email or to come see me during office hours.

Tea & Games is held every Wednesday from 2:00-4:00 in the Student Lounge on the third floor of Swords Hall. Please feel free to stop in for cookies and hot drinks. All are welcome!

REQUIRED FIELD TRIP TO THE EcoTarium We will depart campus at 2:00 sharp from the security kiosk near the main gate. We will return to campus by 4:00. Our host will be Alexander Goldowsky, Director of Programs and Exhibits. Please visit the EcoTarium website prior to the trip. During this trip, you will hear some project descriptions that you may choose as your CBL projecct for the semester. Directions

#8 Activity Point Opportunity due this weekend: (10 activity points, due by midnight Saturday, Sept 16) Submit a one or two page letter to me on Blackboard's Digital Drop Box. Describe your experience at the EcoTarium, tell me about what you learned and whether any of the projects you heard described to you today sound interesting to you. Please feel free to ask me questions in this letter.

#9 Text Book Assignment (worth up to 20 points, due by 9:30 am on Tuesday, Sept. 19 either in the Digital Drop Box or paper copy delivered to my office): Exercises from Hadlock text
These are all research questions, you'll need to start early to find the answers.
2.1 #1 (5 points, make sure it's your home town!)
2.1 #2 (5 points, contact state agency responsible for environmental affairs or newspapers)
2.2 #1 (5 points, if a well, try to determine how deep it is & which aquifer it taps into)
2.2 #3 (5 points)
Note: Because this assignment can easily be typed, my preference is that you turn it in on the Digital Drop Box. If you decide to turn in a paper copy instead, it must be under my door in Swords Hall before 9:30 am on Tuesday, Sept 19. You may work with other people in the class, but make sure the work you turn in represents your own thoughts and words. Make sure to note the names of people you worked with on your assignment. Feel free to add supplementary material as an appendix to what you turn in. Clearly label each problem. Proper referencing is a must! When in doubt, err on the side of caution.

REQUIRED CLASS to hear a GUEST LECTURER: Peggy Middaugh is the Executive Director of the Regional Environmental Council of Central, MA. She will be in class today to describe a number of projects that you may choose as your CBL project for the semester.

#10 REQUIRED Activity Point Opportunity: (10 activity points, due by midnight Wednesday) Submit a two or three page letter to me on Blackboard's Digital Drop Box. I'm interested in your overall reactions to the various projects that are available for you, now that you've heard about them all (MassAudubon, EcoTarium, REC). Describe to me the projects that you're most interested in, and tell me the reasons why they are interesting to you. If there are certain people you'd like to work with (or not work with), now would be the time to communicate this to me. I will hold your letter in confidence, so it's okay to admit if there's someone you'd prefer not to work with. It's okay to work alone on a project, if you feel you have the skills to pull it off alone. If you have any unusual schedule constraints, please disclose them to me in this letter. It would also be very helpful to me if you share with me the particular strengths or skills that you would bring to the project (highly organized, good with Excel, etc.). These letters will help me form the project groups, so please take your time to write me a thoughtful (and opinionate!) letter so that I can help build teams that will have the greatest chance of success!

Topic: We'll sort ourselves into project groups and spend some time planning our approach for the semester.

#11 (BIG POINTS!) Activity Point Opportunity: To try to encourage you to get off campus to enjoy nature a bit this semester, you can earn 50 activity points by participating in an outdoors event at the Broad Meadow Brook Conservation Center & Wildlife Sanctuary. This MassAudubon sanctuary is about 10 minutes from campus, right in the heart of Worcester. Visit the website & click on "Upcoming Programs". Then refine your search by clicking the 3 boxes for "Walking...; Canoe...; Trip or Tour" Instructions for signing up and directions to the site are available on this site. Bring a friend and have some fun! After the event, submit a one page response essay to the Digital Drop Box on Blackboard for 50 activity points. Note You may not simply attend a lecture...you must do some sort of outdoor activity! If you aren't sure if the event you've selected qualifies, just ask me via email. The family events are okay, but you can't do the homeschooler events. The adult only events might be the most interesting for you. Many of these events come with a small fee. Save your receipts because will reimburse you.

Check it Out: A website for information about careers in Environmental Studies http://www.eco.org

Topic: Background & Physical Principles to Ground Water. , Typical Quantitative Issues to Ground Water & Darcy's Law
Read Ahead of Time: Chapter 1 and Sections 2.1 & 2.2 of Mathematical Modeling in the Environment by Charles R. Hadlock (Mathematical Association of America, 1998) ISBN 0-88385-709-X . Read this Brief History of Environmental Disasters. Section 2.3, 2.4 of Mathematical Modeling in the Environment by Charles R. Hadlock

Check it Out: Click here to get your own topographical maps of anyplace you want. http://www.topozone.com.

Topic: The Interstitial Velocity Equations
Reading: Section 2.5 of Mathematical Modeling in the Environment by Charles R. Hadlock

Please have one person in your group send me an email detailing what you've done so far on your project. Let me know when you're meeting with your contact person. As a group, figure out when you could all come meet with me before October break to give me an in-person progress report. I am available in the mornings between 9:30 - 12:30 on most days. Have one person send me a list of available meeting times and I'll confirm a time.

Topic: Head Contour Diagrams
Reading: 2.7 of Mathematical Modeling in the Environment by Charles R. Hadlock

#12 Assignment due today by 2:00 (worth up to 35 points, 5 points each): Exercises from Hadlock text
2.4 #1, 2, 3, 4
2.5 #1,2,3
Please write on only one side of the paper. Turn in at the beginning of class as a hard copy.

Check it Out: Is it safe to swim in a river, pond, or lake? An article in the Worcester Telegram & Gazette from August 25, 2004 discussed how raw sewage being dumped into our own Lake Quinsigammond is contaminating the water. People unaware of the problem are seen swimming there throughout the summer! To read this local newspaper article, click here. On March 5, 2003 the United Nations came out with a report about the poor quality of water around the world. What is one of the worst countries? You might guess some place like India or an African country...but noooooo, it's Belgium. Why? Because Brussels is a city of over 1 million people and the untreated human waste gets dumped directly into rivers and the sea. Moreover, there's enormous farming use of fertilizer chemicals that leach into the drinking water supplies. To read recent press releases from the United Nations, click here. How can you find out if your local swimming hole is safe? How can you be sure that your drinking water is safe? These are the kinds of questions we'll discuss this semester.

Check it Out: The government keeps a list of all of the suspected causes of cancer. It has recently added viruses to its list. You can read the Report on Carcinogens at the National Toxicology Program wihtin the National Institutes of Health at http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov

Please have one person in your group send me an email detailing what you've done so far on your project. Let me know when you're meeting with your contact person. As a group, figure out when you could all come meet with me before October break to give me an in-person progress report. I am available in the mornings between 9:30 - 12:30 on most days. Have one person send me a list of available meeting times and I'll confirm a time.

Topic: Air Quality Modeling: Background, Physical Principles, and Typical Quantitative Issues
Reading: Hadlock, sections 3.1 & 3.2 & 3.3

#13 Assignment due today in class (worth 20 points).
2.7 #1 and 2.7 #2. A scanned copy of these problems is provided here. I strongly recommend that you use Excel on this assignment. For full credit, turn in a print out of a spreadsheet with the following layout:
First, have columns titled "Segment Number", "length", "h1", "h2", "i", "v(ft/day)", "t(days)" and "t (years)". You can also have a fixed (using the $a1$ approach) area for your values for "K (conductivity)" and "Porosity".

Check it Out: The Health of your Drinking Water

Check it Out: Your local air quality forecast is updated twice daily and it is available by calling (800) 882-1497.

#14 BIG POINTS! Activity Point Opportunity: (worth up to 100 points, due Nov. 7) Write a three to five page paper about the book "Collapse". To make this more interesting to read, please include your "voice" in this paper...react to a topic, perhaps supplement what you read in the book with some additional research that seeks out a contrary opinion or that goes into more detail on a topic, etc. Please be extremely careful about plagiarism...don't paraphrase any other source (web sites count!) without including your references. The selection of a topic is up to you, but it must revolve around some aspect of the book that captured your attention. You may include, as appropriate, supplementary material such as a list of references, printouts from websites that you may have used, copies of reference material that supports the body of your paper, etc. Use your best judgement. It is critically important that you reference appropriately and that this paper be in your own words. Feel free to visit me to discuss the idea you have for your thesis. I will also read a rough draft and provide you with extensive feedback.

Check it Out: Here are two editorials from recent issues of the Notices of the American Mathematical Society. Perhaps you're interested to read what working mathematicians are talking about! These are provided for your enrichment. SIAM turns Fifty and Mathematics and the Human Genome

#14 BIG POINTS! Activity Point Opportunity: (worth up to 100 points, due Nov. 7) Write a three to five page paper about the book "Collapse". To make this more interesting to read, please include your "voice" in this paper...react to a topic, perhaps supplement what you read in the book with some additional research that seeks out a contrary opinion or that goes into more detail on a topic, etc. Please be extremely careful about plagiarism...don't paraphrase any other source (web sites count!) without including your references. The selection of a topic is up to you, but it must revolve around some aspect of the book that captured your attention. You may include, as appropriate, supplementary material such as a list of references, printouts from websites that you may have used, copies of reference material that supports the body of your paper, etc. Use your best judgement. It is critically important that you reference appropriately and that this paper be in your own words. Feel free to visit me to discuss the idea you have for your thesis. I will also read a rough draft and provide you with extensive feedback.

#15 Activity Point assignment (worth up to 20 activity points):The movie An Inconvenient Truth is showing today at Kimball Theater, at both 3:00 and 8:00. You can see the movie trailer here. There will be an informal faculty-lead discussion about the movie and global warming following the 3:00 pm showing (it'll start at around 4:45). Submit a one page essay onto the Digital Drop Box within 24 hours about Global Warming and the movie An Inconvenient Truth. Discuss what you've learned and what concerns you might have about the science and politics of this issue. Bonus points will be given to anyone who writes something particularly compelling and interesting. Make it clear in your essay that you attended the panel discussion today, if indeed you did so. Listen to this local radio story and read the article from the Boston Globe about global warming.

Topic: Air Quality Modeling: One-, Two-, and Three-Dimensional Diffusion
Reading: Hadlock 3.5, 3.6, & 3.7. We'll work 3.7 #1 in class. You'll need the PLUME spreadsheet. Get it on Blackboard under the Course Materials link or from the disk that came with your book.

#16 Assignment due in class today (worth 25 points).
2.7 #3, #4, #5. I strongly recommend that you use Excel on this assignment. For full credit, turn in a print out of a spreadsheet with the following layout:
First, have columns titled "Segment Number", "length", "h1", "h2", "i", "v(ft/day)", "t(days)" and "t (years)". You can also have a fixed (using the $a1$ approach) area for your values for "K (conductivity)" and "Porosity".

#18 Assignment due by Sunday, Oct 15 at n oon: Hadlock Exercise 3.1 (you choose any ONE problem from #1,#2,#3,#5)
(worth up to 20 activity points - but you have to do a good job for full credit) Submit your assignment on Blackboard's Digital Drop Box. Include any referencing that is appropriate.

Project Assignment: On the Blackboard site for this course is a Discussion Board. This Discussion Board contains headings for each of the group projects. This is where you will post updates to your work, drafts of various documents, etc. Please begin by posting on your own project a description of what your project is all about before Sunday at noon. Have a paragraph titled "Project Description" and a paragraph titled "Progress to Date". If you have a data set, upload it to this site so that we can all have access to it. Please plan to keep this site updated and comprehensive. It will be used to grade your project at the end of the semester.

Check it Out: In 2003, the National Wildlife Refuge System celebrated 100 years of conserving wildlife and habitat through refuges. In
honor of the Refuge Centennial, the Walt Disney Company , the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service , and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation are supporting the 2005 National Wildlife Refuge System Centennial Scholarship Program, which seeks to support students whose research will contribute toward improved management and understanding of the diverse fish, wildlife, and plant resources found on America's National Wildlife Refuges.Under this competitive scholarship program, a minimum of ten scholarships will be awarded to support students' research expenses, tuition, fees, books, and room and board. Undergraduate, Master's, and Juris Doctorate students are eligible to receive a one-time award of $5,000; Ph.D. and D.V.M. students are eligible to receive a one-time award of $15,000. To be eligible for consideration, a student must be a U.S. citizen or legal resident enrolled in an accredited institution of higher education in the U.S. pursuing a graduate or undergraduate degree (sophomores and juniors in the current academic year only) in environmental science, natural resource management, biology, public policy, education, geography, political science, or related disciplines. Only those students working on a National Wildlife Refuge or whose work is directly applicable to resource management on a National Wildlife Refuge(s) are eligible.Visit the NFWF Web site for application guidelines and procedures.Contact: http://www.nfwf.org/programs/centennialscholarship.htm

#21 Activity Point Opportunity (worth up to 20 points): Have you seen the movie A Civil Action, starring John Travolta? If you watch the movie and submit a one page response essay onto the Digital DropBox by October 26, you can earn up to 20 activity points. In your response essay, discuss your understanding of the science that would have to have been done in order for the case to move forward. The movie will be shown at my house tonight, but you can also view the copy from the main library or you can borrow mine on another night. Chinese food will be served at 6:00 pm and the movie will start at 7:00 pm. Driving directions will be emailed to you.

Exam #1 (worth 150 points) will cover mathematical modeling in general, as well as the material we covered from Hadlock on Water Pollution from Chapter 2
The exam will be an in-class exam. You may have your text book and your notebook and a calculator. Expect one essay question, asking you to discuss some issue related to water pollution or mathematical modeling.

Topic: Finish Chapter 3 and begin Chapter 5
Reading: Hadlock , section 5.1 The Continuous Form of Darcy's Law for One-Dimensional Flow

#19 Assignment due today at 2:00: Hadlock exercises. 3.2 #2, 3, 4 & 3.3 #3 (worth up to 40 activity points)

Check it Out: The United Nations has a Department of Economic and Social Affairs that includes a Statistics Division that provides a vast list of information about the Environmental quality of air and water around the world. Visit the website http://unstats.un.org/unsd/ENVIRONMENT/indicators.htm

#20 Assignment due by 2:30 pm on Friday, Oct. 20: Hadlock exercises 3.5 #1, 2, 3, 4 (worth up to 30 activity points) Please note this change in the directions for 3.5 #1. Your answer should include a table that gives columns labelled for each of the times t = 1, 10, 100, 1000. The rows will be labelled for each of the x-values, but instead of the ones listed in the directions, please use x = -2, -1.5, -1, -0.5, 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2. If you create this table in Excel, then plotting the functions is fairly straightforward. Please deliver this assignment to my office (Swords 336). You can slide it under the door or place it in the bin outside my door.

#1 Activity Point Opportunity to Attend a Talk: The Poincare colloquium will be held Friday, October 20, from 3--5 PM, in Swords 328. You can attend up to five talks this semester for activity points. Presenters will be PRofessors Swang and Damiano. Come learn about a recent proof of a famous mathematical problem! In every case, you attend the talk and submit a one page response essay on Blackboard's Digital Drop Box within 24 hours to receive up to 20 activity points. Every time you submit one of these assignments, please title it "Your Last Name_#1_speaker's last name". For example, if I went to hear Professor Cecil speak, I would title my submission "Roberts_#1_Cecil".

Check it Out: Hogwarts IX, "The Joy of Chemistry" (sponsored by the Chemistry Dept.), 6:30 - 8:30 pm, Hogan Ballroom. The Math/CS Club is running three
tables: Sudoku, Topology and Bubbleology

Check it Out: Teach For America program, "Lunch and Learn," for Math Majors, 12:00 pm, Swords Atrium

Topic: Applying the Continuous One-Dimensional Version of Darcy's Law & Retardation Factors
Reading: Hadlock, 5.2 & 5.3

#22 Assignment due today in class: Hadlock exercises 3.6 #2, 5, 6 (worth up to 30 activity points) (Just a warning that the homework problems from 3.7 will take some time, so you might want to get started now.)

#1 Activity Point Opportunity (worth up to 20 points): Weds, Oct. 25 The 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Wangari Maathai will be giving a public lecture in the Chapel at 11:00 am, followed by a book signing. The press release describing her work in Africa "to promote ecologically viable social, economic and cultural development" can be viewed at http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2004/press.html. This counts as a qualifying talk. Your response essay on Blackboard should be titled "#1_Last Name"

Check it Out: The Department is holding a Graduate School Fair tonight at 7:00 - 8:30in the Faculty Lounge in Swords. Several recent math and computer science major graduates who are now in graduate school working on their master's and doctoral degrees will be present to talk about their experiences. Pizza and soda will be provided. If you are thinking about graduate school, you don't want to miss this event!

Topic: Determining the Hydraulic Head COntour Lines and General Flow Directions Using Data Availalbe from Moderate or Large Number of Wells
Reading: Hadlock. 5.4

#23 Assignment due today by 4:30: Hadlock 3.7 #3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 14 (worth up to 60 activity points, include your spreadsheet and show your work). Due in my office (Swords 336) before 4:30 pm.

#1 Activity Point Opportunity (worth up to 20 points): This talk is in the Math Department at WPI. It counts as a qualifying talk for activity points. The second in this year's series of Cool Math Talks will feature WPI Professor Brigitte Servatius speaking on "A beautiful mind and hyperperfect numbers". As always,
o This Cool Math Talk is accessible to anyone with a high school math background,
o The pizza and soft drinks are on us, and,
o We'd love to have you drop by.
Time: 4 pm
Location: HL 218
Title: A Beautiful Mind And Hyperperfect Numbers
Speaker: Professor Brigitte Servatius, WPI
Abstract: A short paper by John C.M. Nash about hyperferfect numbers appeared in the PME Journal shortly after the movie "A beautiful mind" conquered the screen. We will tell about the result and the story behind it.

Check it Out: mathartfun.com This is an online store & gallery of Mathematical Art

#1 Activity Point Opportunity (worth up to 20 points): Dr. James Cloern will give a talk co-sponsored by the Biology Department in O’Neil 101 at 4:00. Dr. Cloern is one of the world's leading authorities on the eutrophication of the world's rivers, estuaries, and coastal areas and best known for his 25 years of research on San Francisco Bay's plankton ecology. This counts as a qualifying talk. Your response essay on Blackboard should be titled "#1_Last Name"

Check it Out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTby_e4-Rhg

Topic: Learn about GIS and SASS in Haberlin 408 computer lab with Professor Rich Lent

Check it Out: Click here to find job listings (including paid and unpaid summer internships) http://www.environmentalcareer.com/

Check it Out: The Putnam Contest is an international contest for undergraduate math majors. It is characterized by its extremely challenging problems. We encourage our majors to participate in the Putnam Contest because we believe it's a valuable experience. There are practice sessions, organized by Professors John Little and G. Roberts every other Wednesday. Please consider stopping by to discuss some challenging mathematical problems. Putnam Pizza Practice Sessions. Tonight from 5:30 - 7:00 pm. Pizza provided.

#1 Activity Point Opportuny Wednesday we were pleased to host the 2004 Nobel Prize winner, Dr. Wangari Maathai. The response of the 800 people in attendance was overwhelmingly positive. In light of the fact that many of you were not able to attend, public affairs and audiovisual services has made it possible for us to put the talk online. To listen to the talk, simply go online to http://www.holycross.edu/publicaffairs/features/2006-2007/maathai_audio. If you missed the lecture, you can still earn 20 points by listening to the talk and submitting a detailed response on Blackboard. Please submit your report in the next couple of weeks.

Topic: Learn about GIS and SASS in Haberlin 408 computer lab with Professor Rich Lent

#1 Activity Point Opportunity (worth up to 20 points): Thurs., Nov 2 John Drobinski, a geologist who was involved in the Woburn water pollution case described in the book and movie, A Civil Action, will be giving a lunch seminar from 12:00 – 1:30 (location TBA). I am especially interested in this presentation and really hope that several of you will be able to attend. This counts as a qualifying talk. Your response essay on Blackboard should be titled "#1_Last Name"

#25 Activity Point Opportuny http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/061023fa_fact1 Read this recent New Yorker article about water pollution. Submit a response on Balckboard for 10 activity points. Due by Nov. 2.

#24 Assignment due (deliver to the Math Dept office before 2:00 pm). ( Worth up to 30 activity points) Hadlock 5.1 #2, 5.2 #3,7,8,9(b)

#1 Activity Point Opportunity for Friday, Nov. 3
The Blackstone Canal Symposium takes place in Kimball Theater all day today. Free with Student ID.
Today there will be one talk and three sessions, any one of which can count as one of your qualifying talks for the semester. Thus, you can earn up to 20 activity points for each of the four events listed here. These have more of an historical (rather than scientific) flavor to them. You will need your student ID to get in. Each one lasts 60 - 90 minutes. Remember, you can attend up to four talks this semester and earn up to 100 points total this way.

9:15 keynote speaker TBA

10:30 Session 1 "Charting the Canal's Path: Archeology and Preservation in a Changing Landscape"
- Pierre Morenson, Rhode Island College; Virginia Adams, PAL; Rita Walsh, VHB; Joanna Doherty, NPS Planner

1:30 Session 2 "Financial Failure? The Real Returns to the Blackstone Canal" - Jill Dupree
"The Way of Water: Keeping the Canal Watered" - Rick Greenwood

3:00 Session 3 "They Came, They Built, They Stayed: Irish Immigrants in the Blackstone Valley"
-Timothy Meagher, Catholic University; Scott Malloy, URI; Ed O'Donnell, Holy Cross

Topic: Learn about GIS (Geographic Information Systems) Haberlin 408 computer lab with Professor Rich Lent

Solutions to the problems from 3.7 are here.

#14 BIG POINTS! Activity Point Opportunity: (worth up to 100 points, due TODAY..upload onto Blackboard & submit a hard copy in class at 2:00) Write a three to five page paper about the book "Collapse". Submit this paper to the Digital Drop Box before 9:30 am today. To make this more interesting to read, please include your "voice" in this paper...react to a topic, perhaps supplement what you read in the book with some additional research that seeks out a contrary opinion or that goes into more detail on a topic, etc. Please be extremely careful about plagiarism...don't paraphrase any other source (web sites count!) without including your references. The selection of a topic is up to you, but it must revolve around some aspect of the book that captured your attention. You may include, as appropriate, supplementary material such as a list of references, printouts from websites that you may have used, copies of reference material that supports the body of your paper, etc. Use your best judgement. It is critically important that you reference appropriately and that this paper be in your own words. Feel free to visit me to discuss the idea you have for your thesis.

#1 Activity Point Opportunity (worth up to 20 points): Tuesday, Nov. 7 Lisa Rattay will give an ES lunch talk about the graduate programs at Duke University's Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences. Lunch will be provided. Lunch provided, O’Neil 112. Lunch available starting at 11:45, talk will be from 12:00 – 12:30 with discussion to follow. The website is http://www.nicholas.duke.edu. . This counts as a qualifying talk. Your response essay on Blackboard should be titled "#1_Last Name"

#1 Activity Point Opportunity (worth up to 20 points): Roger Sallant, CEO of Plug Power, a firm that develops of hydrogen fuel cell technology, will be giving the O’Brien Lecture at 7 pm in the Hogan Ballroom. You must pre-register to attend this talk at www.wjoblecture.org. This counts as a qualifying talk. Your response essay on Blackboard should be titled "#1_Last Name"

Topic: Learn about GIS Haberlin 408 computer lab with Professor Rich Lent

#1 Activity Point Opportunity (worth up to 20 points): Discrete Math Day at Holy Cross, 9:00 - 5:10 pm. Info available at http://mathcs.holycross.edu/~little/DMD.html This event has been organized by Professors Ballantine, Little, and Frechette. The day includes a series of lectures. You may attend one lecture to count as a qualifying talk. Please visit the link to view the descriptions of the talks, many of which will be above your level. Professor Ballantine suggested that the computer science talk may be the most accessible and the most closely related to mathematical modeling. Your response essay on Blackboard should be titled "#1_Last Name". As an aside, Professor Ballantine is looking for some assistance from 8:00 - 9:00 and just before lunch, if you want to help out.

Check it Out: Several Holy Cross students will be making poster presentations on their research at this conference. If there's room on the bus, you can join us. Let me know of your interest via email and I'll send you more details. The website for the conference is http://www.bridgew.edu/Environmental

Exam #2 This wil be a straightforward exam on Chapter 3 (air pollution) and 5.1 & 5.2
The exam will be an in-class exam. You may have your text book and your notebook and a calculator. Expect one essay question, asking you to discuss some issue related to air pollution or mathematical modeling.

Topic: Guest Lecture: Charles R. Hadlock, the author of your text book, professor of mathematics and undergraduate dean at Bentley College. He will be visiting the class today to give a talk that will be more closely connected to your text book and the material we've been covering in class. Please make every effort to attend this class! I hope that you will also make every effort to attend his lunch seminar that precedes his class visit...read about it here:

#1 Activity Point Opportunity (worth up to 20 points): Thurs, Nov 16 Dr. Charlie Hadlock will give an ES lunch talk about his work doing environmental consulting as a mathematician. I've heard him speak several times and strongly recommend this to anyone interested in alternative careers in environmental consulting. Lunch provided, O’Neil 112. Lunch available starting at 11:45, talk will be from 12:00 – 12:30 with discussion to follow. This counts as a qualifying talk. Your response essay on Blackboard should be titled "#1_Last Name"

#25 Activity Point Opportunity (worth up to 20 points) Read this recent article about Math Education in America from the NY Times and submit a response essay on Blackboard. What do you think?

Check it Out: Tonight is Earth Night at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center -- Boston's biggest environmental party! You can find out more at www.EARTHNIGHT.org

Check it Out: Here's information about a Global Warming confernece happening at MIT today.

Mass. Climate Action Network's 5th MA & New England

GLOBAL WARMING ACTION CONFERENCE
Sunday, Nov. 19, 8:30 am - 6:00 pm
MIT's Stata Center, 32 Vassar St, Cambridge, MA

Full Program & Registration info at: http://www.massclimateaction.org/conferenceinfo.htm

#1 Activity Point Opportunity (worth up to 20 points):Attend this talk today and submit a response essay to the Digital Drop box within 48 hours to receive up to 20 activity points. Dr. Steve Sherwood, Yale University, Dept. of Geology and Geophysics will speak on Global Climate Change: What we know and don’t know at 4pm in O’Neil 112. Joint with Biology, Math/CS, and the ENVS program. This counts as a qualifying talk. Your response essay on Blackboard should be titled "#1_Last Name"

No Class Today

Check it Out: A website where students rate their professors! (please be kind!)

Practice Presentations will be made today by all the EcoTarium groups.

Course Evaluations and Practice Presentations will be made today by the Blackstone and Wind Turbine groups.

Check it Out: Visit the website for COMAP: The Consortium for Math and Applications. If you click on the Contest tab, you can read about the Mathematical Contest in Modeling (MCM) and the Interdisciplinary Contest in Modeling (ICM). Want to participate? The contest runs from 8 pm on Feb. 9 through 8 pm on Feb. 12. You'd probably want to spend at least ten hours working on the contest during that period of time. The Department will be putting teams together in a few months, so keep this in mind!

Presentation Day for the Blackstone Group
The Annual Meeting of the Blackstone Headwaters Coalition and Water Summit is today from 4- 5:30 at Broad Meadow Brook Wildlife Sanctuary.

Presentation Day at the EcoTarium at 2:30
We will leave via the academic van in the usual meeting place (outside Stein, near the security kiosk) at 2:00 pm sharp! Please dress nicely. Even if you are not presenting today, I'd like everyone to attend to lend support.

Presentation Day for the Wind Energy Group
10:30 the Wind Turbine Group will be making their presentation to the administration and the Regional Environmental Council. If you are not a part of this group, you do not need to attend. If you'd still like to attend, please let me know so that I can make sure the room is set up to accomodate everyone.

The final exam for this course is scheduled for Weds., Dec. 13 at 2:30 pm, but instead of an exam, you're final project counts as your final exam. The course is complete for you once you've done the following:

Please turn everything in to me before 2:00 pm on Wednesday, December 13.

A: Completed the special evaluation form that I will distribute to you via email.

B: Receipts for any expenses you've incurred from this course (gasoline receipts, supplies for the final binders, etc.) & name of person to reimburse.

C. As a class, you must deliver to me TWO complete copies of your REPORT. One of these binders will be delivered to the organization you worked with. The other will stay with me. See below for a description of what is expected. They need not be identical -- you may want to include more background or supplementary information in the binder you give to me.

Please organize yourselves to get this all put together completely and in time! This report must include the following:
1. A binder with a cover label that says "Final Report for <insert name of organization you worked for>, College of the Holy Cross, Math 303: Mathematical Modeling, Fall 2006"
2. A table of contents that includes a list of everyone's names involved in the project, including my name and the contact information for the organization you worked for (names, job titles, address, phone, email).
3. A one page description of the project - this is a summary of your entire project, suitable for a press release or newspaper article.
4. A section about your project - this is much like a lab report in the sciences. It should be written as a paper that includes pasted-in charts and graphs. This should describe your methodology -- just what you did (e.g. how many surveys were collected, when they were collected, how they were analyzed). Discuss your results and observations, include a set of recommendations or main points. You may want to describe some good future directions for this project. Since several of you may work on this section, you can each contribute a couple of pages to this part or you can try to write it all up as one uniform document that describes all that you've accomplished.
5. A letter to any future group of students who want to pick up where you left off to work on this project some more. You can include suggestions for what else needs to be done, informal bits of advice that you think might smooth the way, etc.
6. An appendix with copies of all your charts & graphs printed out (preferably in color -- use the printer in Swords 332, but don't wait until Wednesday...it's slow and finicky, so start early).
7. A print out of your power point final presentation (preferably in color -- use the printer in Swords 332).
8. Any additional appendices that you think are needed.
9. A CD-ROM with the power point presentation, plus the databases, plus the charts and graphs you might have files for.
10. A list of everyone who should be thanked for helping you out with this project. Please include full name, mailing address, and a note about how that person helped. If you want to include a thank you letter from your group with your own signatures in the binder for me, I'll add it to my own thank-you letter.
11. A personal reflection document from each of you -- one page minimum -- where you discuss the experience of working on this project. I'd like you to focus on describing what you learned and about how you think this experience might help you in the future workplace. This should just be in the binder for me. If you want it to remain private, you can seal it in an envelope.