Assignments for M 302 (Smith), Spring 2005

Friday, January 21:

I. Read the First Day Handout thoroughly.

II. Read the Welcome section of the textbook. (pp. xi - xiv). Take special note of the "travel tips" (p. xiii) and the paragraph following them.

III. Surf the Book. You may do this in either of the following ways:
    1. Read the section Surfing the book (pp. xv - xxiv). If you use this method, be sure to flip to the pages of at least three or four items that you find interesting, and browse there a bit.
        OR
    2. Surf on the web, starting at http://www.heartofmath.com/surfing_the_book/index.php. If you use this method, be sure to click on the links for at least three or four items that you find interesting, and browse the resulting pdf files.

IV. Be prepared to discuss in class which items you found especially interesting in your surfing.

V. Read p. 3 and Section 1.1. As you read, start working on Stories #1, 3, 4, 5, 9. Keep in mind the "Travel Tips" you read in II. You may read Section 1.2 (hints), but do not read 1.3 (solutions).)
(Note: Your kit might not have a copy of the board and pieces for Story 5, but you can use the boards in the book and coins.)

VI. Discuss the reading and stories with classmates, roommates, friends, and/or family.

Monday, January 24:

I. Finish the stories assigned for last time.

II. Also do Stories #2, 6. Keep in mind the "Travel Tips" on p.xiii. As before, you may read Section 1.2 (hints), but do not read 1.3 (solutions). Be sure to discuss the stories with classmates, etc. For Story 6, you may want to investigate the Sierpinski's Carpet Link from the class home page.

II. Do Mindscapes #2 and 3 on pp. 28 - 29. Try them first, then look at the hints on p.33, and think some more.

Wednesday, January 26:

I. Work on Stories #7 and 8 (pp. 10 - 12). As before, keep in mind the "Travel Tips" on p.xiii. As before, you may read Section 1.2 (hints), but do not read 1.3 (solutions). Be sure to discuss the stories with classmates, etc.
Note: If you do not have the manipulative kit that comes with the book, you will need to make the needed dice yourself.

II. Read Section 1.4

III. Do Mindscapes #4 and 5 on p. 29. Try them first, then look at the hints on p.33, and think some more.

Friday, January 28:(Revised)

I. Mindscape 7, p. 29. As before, keep in mind the "Travel Tips" on p.xiii. If you get stuck, look at the hints on p. 33.
II. Read pp. 39 - 45.
III. Do the Developing Ideas Mindscapes #1 - 5 on pp. 45 - 46.
~~IV. Do Solidifying Ideas Mindscapes # 7 and 12 on pp. 46 - 47.~~ (Changed to Monday.)

Monday, January 31:

I. Review pp. 39 - 45.
II. Do Solidifying Ideas Mindscapes #7, 12, and 14 on pp. 46 - 47.

Wednesday, February 2:

Review the assignment for Monday

Friday, February 4:

I. Review #14 on p. 47 -- apply and extend the ideas discussed in class Wednesday.
II. Read pp. 49 - middle of 53.
III. Do Mindscapes #1, 3, 4, 5, 6 (Be sure to pay attention to the notation F_n, which is read "F sub n"), 7 on pp. 57 - 58.

Monday, February 7:

I. Finish reading Section 2.2
II. Do Mindscapes #2, 4, 8, 15, 16, 17, 29 on pp. 59 - 61.
III. Explore the website Fibonacci Numbers in Nature (linked from the class home page)

Wednesday, February 9:

I. Try again any of the Mindscapes from Monday that you were not able to do before.
II. Read pp. 82 - top of 86. (We will be skipping Section 2.3. But if you're interested in finding out more about how mathematicians persist on hard problems, you might want to read the discussion of Fermat's Last Theorem, starting at the bottom of p. 73 and continuingto the bottom of p. 75. You might even want to read pp. 72 - 76, or even all of Section 2.3.)
III. Do Mindscapes #1 - 4 on p. 89

Friday, February 11:

I. Try again any of the Mindscapes from Wednesday that you were not able to do before.
II. Read pp. 86 - 89.
III. Do Mindscapes #4, 6 - 10, 13 - 16, and 20 - 24 on pp. 89 - 91.
IV. Reminder: First exam will be Friday, February 18. Detailed information about the exam will be posted by Friday, February 11.

Monday, February 14:

I. Try again any of the Mindscapes from Friday that you were not able to do before.
II. Read from p. 110 through the top of p. 115. (Optional: Read the rest of Section 2.6.)
III. Do Mindscapes #1 - 8 on p. 118.

Wednesday, February 16:

I. Try again any of the Mindscapes from Monday that you were not able to do before.
II. Do Mindscapes #22, 23, 26, 27 on p. 119.
III. Read pp. 121 - 124.
IV. Do Mindscapes #1-5, pp. 131 - 132.

Friday, February 18:First Exam (WEL 1.308)

More information.

Monday, February 21:

I. Review pp. 121 - 124.
II. Review Mindscapes #1 - 5, pp. 131 - 132.
III. Read pp. 124 - 127.
IV. Do Mindscapes #6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 15, 17, 20 on pp. 132 - 133.

Wednesday, February 23:

I.Try again any Mindscapes for Monday that you were not able to do.
II. Read pp. 137 - 140.
III. Do Mindscapes #1-9 on pp. 141 - 142

Friday, February 25

I. Try again any Mindscapes for Wednesday that you were not able to do.
II. Do Mindscapes #12 - 14 on p. 142.
III. Read pp. 145 - 148.
IV. Do Mindscapes #1 - 4 on p. 156

Monday, February 28:

I. Review the reading for Friday, and try again any Mindscapes from Friday that you were not able to do before.
II. Read pp. 148 - 151.
III. Do Mindscapes #5 - 8 on p. 156

Wednesday, March 1:

I. Try again any Mindscapes from Monday that you were not able to do before.
II. Read pp. 151 - 155.
III. Do Mindscapes #11, 15, 20, 21, 30 on pp. 157 - 159.

Friday, March 3:

I. Try again any Mindscapes from Wednesday that you were not able to do before.
II. Read Section 3.3
II. Do Mindscapes #1 - 7, pp. 168 - 169

Monday, March 7:

I. Try again any Mindscapes from Friday that you were not able to do before.
II. Do Mindscapes #8, 10, 11 on p. 169.
III. Read pp. 207 - 212. -> Be sure to follow instructions on pp. 209 - 210. -> If you do not have the kit that goes with the book, be sure to make your own copy of the puzzle pieces to work with. You can download a template to print and cut out.
IV. Do Mindscapes # 1 - 5 on p. 213 and #7 on p. 214
V. Bring your puzzle pieces (either from your kit or that you made yourself) to class!

Wednesday, March 9:

I. Try again any Mindscapes from Monday that you were not able to do before.
II. Read pp. 269 through the discussion of the octahedron at the top of p. 275.
III. Do Mindscapes #1 - 3 on pp 284 - 285.
IV. Make a cube, a tetrahedron, and an octahedron, and bring them to class. There are several ways you can make these models. Here are some suggestions:

If you have the manipulative kit that comes with the book, you will probably need to cut the straws to make all the polyhedra (the last two will be assigned to make for Friday). If you don't have the manipulative kit, read on:
Get some soda straws and some curly ribbon (the kind you wrap presents with that will curl if you run it over the scissors). Thread the ribbon through the straws to make the figures. Cut the straws in half or even smaller to make the models a manageable size.
Use toothpicks and gumdrops. (This can be a little iffy.)
Print out templates from the links at the bottom of the web page http://www.intermath-uga.gatech.edu/dictnary/descript.asp?termID=306, cut them out, and tape them together. (To make sturdier models, print them on card stock or cardboard. To make them bigger, enlarge the templates before cutting out -- you may need to split up each template into more than one page.You might also want to cut out tabs and glue the tabs together rather than tape.)

Friday, March 11:

I. Read the rest of Section 4.5.
II. Make a dodecahedron and an icosahedron. See Wednesday's assignment for suggestions on how to do this.
III. Do Mindscapes #4, 5, 7, and 8 on p. 285.
IV. Bring all five (the three from Wednesday and the two new ones for today) of your models to class -- if you haven't been entirely successful in making all of the models, bring your materials and what you have done so you can get help in class.
--> The quiz for Friday will consist of 5 points if you are in class, and one more point for each model you have brought with you. The models must be ones you have made yourself -- anything pre-made won't count.

Monday, March 21

I. Review the Mindscapes previously assigned from Section 4.5 for a possible quiz.
II. Read pp. 515 - 520.
III. Do Mindscapes #1 - 5, plus one of #6, 7, 8, on p. 520.

Wednesday, March 23:

I. Review the assignment for Monday and try again any Mindscapes you were not able to do before.
II. Read pp. 523 - 530.
III. Do Mindscapes #1 - 7 on pp. 535 - 536.

Friday, March 25:

CLASS CANCELLED

Reminder: The second exam will be Friday, April 1. Information for the exam will be posted by Friday, March 25.

Monday, March 28:

I. Review the assignment for Wednesday and try again any Mindscapes you were not able to do before.
II. Read pp. 530 - 534.
III. Do Mindscapes #10, 12, 13, 15, 19, 24 on pp. 536 - 538.

Wednesday, March 30:

I. Try again any Mindscapes from last week that you were not able to do.
II. Read Section 7.3 (pp. 541 - 549).
III. Do Mindscapes #1, 2, 4 - 7 on p. 549.

Friday, April 1: Second Exam

Exam information (pdf version Word version)

Monday, April 4:

I. Try again any Mindscapes from last week that you were not able to do.
II. Do Mindscapes #8 and 13 on p. 550.
III. Read pp. 554 - 559.
IV. Do Mindscapes #1, 2, 4, 5, 6 on pp. 565 - 566.

Wednesday, April 6:

I. Try again any Mindscapes from Monday that you were not able to do.
II. Read pp. 559 - 565.
III. Do Mindscapes #3, 7, 10, 11, 12, 15 on pp. 566 - 567.

Friday, April 8:

I. Try again any Mindscapes from Wednesday that you were not able to do.
II. Do Mindscapes #13 and 16 on pp. 566 - 567.
III. Read pp. 571 - top of p. 576.
IV. Do Mindscapes #1 - 3 on p. 581.

Monday, April 11:

I. Try again any Mindscapes from Wednesday that you were not able to do.
II. Read pp. 576 - 580.
III. Do Mindscapes #4 - 9 on pp. 581 - 582.

Wednesday, April 13:

I. Try again any Mindscapes from Monday that you were not able to do.
II. Read pp. 585 - top of p. 591.
III. Do Mindscapes #2 (p. 602), 14, 14 (p. 605), and 22, 23 (p. 607) from Section 7.6

Friday, April 15:

I. Try again any Mindscapes from Monday that you were not able to do.
II. Read pp. 591 - 596.
III. Do Mindscapes #1, 6, 8, 10, 25, 26 on pp. 602 - 607.

Monday, April 18:

I. Try again any Mindscapes from lst week that you were not able to do.
II. Read pp. 596 - 600.
III. Do Mindscapes #3, 4, 6, 7, 10 on pp. 603 - 604.

Wednesday, April 20:

I. Review Section 7.6.
II. Try again any Mindscapes so far assigned from Section 7.6 that you were not able to do before.
III. Do Mindscapes #8, 9, and 24 - 26 on pp. 603 - 607.

Friday, April 22:

I. Try again any Mindscapes from Wednesday that you were not able to do before.
II. Read pp. 610 - 614.
III. Do Mindscapes #1, 2, and 16 - 19on pp. 623 - 625.

Monday, April 25:

I. Try again any Mindscapes from last week that you were not able to do before.
II. Read pp. 615 - 622.
III. Do Mindscapes #3, 4, 5, 12, 13, 15 on pp. 623 - 625

Wednesday, April 27:

I. Try again any mindscapes from Monday that you were not able to do before.
II. Read pp. 629 - 633.
III. Do Mindscapes #1 - 5 on p. 639

Friday, April 29:

I. Try again any mindscapes from Wednesday that you were not able to do before.
II. Read pp. 634 - 638.
III. Do Mindscapes #6 - 8 on p. 639 and 12, 13 on p. 640.
Please Note: The solution to #6 in the back of the book is wrong.

Monday, May 2:

I. Try again any mindscapes from Friday that you were not able to do before.
II. Read pp. 645 - middle of p. 649.
III. Do Mindscapes #3, 4, 6, 7, 8 on pp. 659 - 660.

Wednesday, May 4:

I. Try again any mindscapes from Monday that you were not able to do before.
II. Read pp. 649 - 658.
III. Do Mindscapes #5, 9, 10, 11 on pp. 659 - 660.

Friday, May 6: Third Exam

Exam Information