Detailed Schedule -- MONT 104N, Modeling the Environment

Fall 2019, Prof. Little

Note: All information on this page is still under development and subject to change.
The following day-by-day listing shows the planned topic for each day's class and the due dates of the larger individual assignments. There will also be several smaller writing assignments and group writeups from the group project days. The due dates for those will be announced when the assignments are made. This is a tentative, evolving schedule. Topics may be added, deleted, or rearranged during the course of the semester. Any changes will be announced in class and here. Note: Reading assignments labeled

Date Class Topic Reading
9/4 Introductions Please bring your The Uninhabitable Earth reaction essays to class and be prepared to read aloud.
9/6 The Uninhabitable Earth -- Climate change and the natural world UE, review (or read) pages 1 - 99
9/9 The Uninhabitable Earth -- Climate change and human society UE, review (or read) pages 100 - 170
9/11 Greta Thunberg and climate activism NITS, pages 1 - 68
9/13 Focus on writing day 1 -- ``They Say'' Reading on course homepage
9/16 Measurement and units -- Stage 1 of Paper 1 due (see assignment on course homepage), no later than 5:00pm MDA, Chapter 1 (1.1 -- 1.4)
9/18 Group project day 1 -- the Greenland ice sheet MDA, Chapter 1 (1.8)
9/20 Group project day 1 -- the Greenland ice sheet, continued MDA, Chapter 1 (1.8)
9/23 Focus on writing day 2 -- ``I Say'' Reading on course homepage
9/25 Ratios and percentages, proportions -- Stage 2 of Paper 1 due MDA, Chapter 2
9/27 Group project day 2 -- Demographic data and spreadsheets -- Problem Set 1 due MDA, Chapter 2
9/30 Group project day 2 -- Demographic data and spreadsheets MDA, Chapter 2
10/2 Graphical displays of data -- pie charts, bar charts, and scatter plots Class notes
10/4 Group project day 3 -- the US energy economy MDA, Chapter 3
10/7 Group project day 3 -- the US energy economy, continued MDA, Chapter 3
10/9 Linear functions and modeling MDA, Chapter 4
10/11 Regression and least squares -- Problem Set 2 and News Journals due (see course syllabus) MDA, Chapter 4
10/14,16,18 Fall Break -- no class MDA, Chapter 4
10/21 Logarithms and Logarithmic Scales MDA, Chapter 1 (1.5 -- 1.7)
10/23 Exponential functions and models MDA, Chapter 5
10/25 Exponential regression-- Problem Set 3 due MDA, Chapter 5
10/28 Group project day 4 -- The Mauna Loa atmospheric CO2 data MDA, Chapter 4
10/30 Group project day 4 -- The Mauna Loa atmospheric CO2 data, continued MDA, Chapter 4
11/1 Midterm Exam covers: MDA Chapters 1 - 5, The Uninhabitable Earth
11/4 Power functions and modeling MDA, Chapter 6
11/6 More on power function models MDA, Chapter 6
11/8 Group project day 5 -- Zipf's Law -- Problem Set 4 due MDA, Chapter 6
11/11 Begin difference equations, affine equations and solutions MDA, Chapter 7
11/13 Equilibrium points and stability MDA, Chapter 7
11/15 Logistic population models -- Problem Set 5 due MDA, Chapter 7
11/18 Group project day 6 -- logistic models with harvesting MDA, Chapter 7
11/20 Group project day 6, continued -- logistic models with harvesting, sustainability MDA, Chapter 7
11/22 Systems of difference equations -- Paper 2 due MDA, Chapter 8
11/25 More on systems -- structured population models MDA, Chapter 8
11/27,29 Thanksgiving Break -- no class
12/2 More on systems -- epidemic models MDA, Chapter 8
12/4 CEF's administered; Predator-Prey Models MDA, Chapter 8
12/6 More on predator-prey models -- Current-events journals collected MDA, Chapter 8
12/9 Student-led discussions (articles to be chosen)
12/11 Continue student-led discussions (articles to be chosen)
12/13 Continue student-led discussions -- Problem Set 7 due (articles to be chosen)
The Final Exam for this course will be given at the published time for MWF 9:00am classes: Friday, December 20 at 8:00am.

Last modified: December 4, 2019