MAT 115: Mathematics for Liberal Arts

• Syllabus
• Assignments
• Classroom Agreement
• Final exam: May 1st, 1:00-3:00 p.m.

• Materials for individual days/chapters/ideas:

  "Chapter 1: Fun and Games" Day 01: Welcome! Fun and Games... Day 02: Fun and Games.... "Chapter 2: Numbers" Day 03: Breaking numbers down to nothing.... Day 04: Primes, and Rationals Day 05: Primitive counting Day 06: Egyptian Mathematics Day 07: Egyptian Mathematics Day 08: Egyptian Division Day 09: Bases Day 10: More Bases Day 11: Review/Nim Day 12: Exam 1 Day 13: Fibonacci numbers Day 14: Fibonacci numbers and spirals

  "Chapter 3: Geometry" Day 15: Fibonacci Golden Rectangles Day 16: Fibonacci and Pascal Day 17: Platonic Solids Day 18: Platonic Solids Day 19: Graphs Day 20: Graphs "Chapter 4: Knots and Links" Day 21: Links Day 22: Knots Day 23: Exam 2 Day 24: Knots Day 25: Knots and Mobius Day 26: Knots and Mobius

  Chapter 5: Fractals Day 27: Fractals Day 28: Fractals Day 29: Review Day 30: Logo Day!

• Lessons for life:
  1. Keep an open mind.
  2. Just do it. Jump in. Make mistakes and fail, but never give up.
  3. Often when we've done it once, we do it again. Follow up one good deed with another!
  4. Understand simple things deeply.
  5. Break a difficult problem into easier ones.
  6. Look for patterns and similarities.
  7. Explore the consequences of new ideas. Generalize.
  8. Examine issues from several points of view.
     Don't be a turkey -- be a dog! (this one may require a little explanation....)
• Links:
  • Nice website with examples of Cantor, Koch, and other fractals
  • Anna Ting just died.... Inhabiting Geometry
  • Fantastic math videos from Vi Hart
  • Fractal generation
  • Fractal quilts (and the fractal sums that took me to them!).
  • Mobius molecules
  • Norsemathology wiki
  • Platonic Solids (and the Platonic solids in 2-D (paper template))
  • Tom Lehrer sings math music (here are the lyrics - local copy).
  • An on-line game, another form of Nim. There are four rows, of 6/5/4/3 pearls. One chooses any number of pearls from a single row, and the last one to take a pearl is the loser.
  • A previous visitor, Ivars Peterson, produced a piece in Science News about how Sunflowers twist in Fibonacci spirals! Check it out....
  • Imhotep: Doctor, Architect, High Priest, Scribe and Vizier to King Djoser of Egypt
  • Leonardo da Vinci's Polyhedra
  • Paper Folding - Models of the Platonic Solids
  • Graph paper (double-sided)

Notes:

• Feel free to email me with your questions.
• The Departmental Syllabus for all Mathematics courses is a part of the syllabus for this course, and is available upon demand.
• Taking tests in my classes
• Suggestions for the NKU Math/CS student
• Free tutoring for any NKU student is available from the the learning assistance center, BEP 230: call 5475 before problems arise!
• Women in Transition (WIT) supports non-traditional female students, juggling school, work, and family. Call the Women's Center at 572-6497 for more information.