Teaching Manuals

Introductory Statistics with Student Designed Community-Based Projects

This teaching manual was developed by Dr. Cindy Kaus, a Co-Principal Investigator of Engaging Mathematics and Associate Professor and Chair of Mathematics at Metropolitan State University. The manual provides a curricular guide to teaching introductory statistics in a way that engages students in real, statistical data as they complete a semester-long, community-based project of their design and choosing.

Integrating Sustainability into Algebra Courses

This teaching manual was developed by Dr. Rikki Wagstrom, Engaging Mathematics Institutional Partner and Associate Professor of Mathematics at Metropolitan State University. The manual discusses four classroom-tested, sustainability-themed modules that may be used collectively or individually in mathematics courses ranging from intermediate algebra through pre-calculus and math for liberal arts.

Applied Mathematics Modules on Global Warming and Groundwater Pollution

Global Warming: A Zonal Energy Balance Model

This teaching module, developed by Victor Padron of Normandale Community College, is directed to undergraduate students in applied mathematics. It introduces a Zonal Energy Balance Model to describe the evolution of the latitudinal distribution of Earth’s surface temperature subject to incremental levels of cumulative carbon emissions in the atmosphere. A strategy to avert “dangerous levels” of global warming is imbedded in the model. Students working with the module will write a MATLAB script to solve the model numerically and apply it with their own choice of the relevant parameters to obtain the solution that guarantees controlled levels of global warming.

Tracking Groundwater Pollution

This teaching module, also developed by Victor, presents an introduction to modeling ground water pollution, directed to undergraduate students in applied mathematics. It begins with a brief discussion of Darcy’s law concerning the flow of a fluid through a porous medium. A mathematical model that uses field data to track ground-water contamination is presented. Students working with the module will write a MATLAB script to obtain a numerical solution of the model and apply it to investigate a real event of groundwater pollution.

Teaching Manual for General Education Mathematics with Watershed Data

This teaching manual was developed by Dr. Anthony Dunlop, an Institutional Partner of Engaging Mathematics and Instructor of Mathematics at Normandale Community College. The manual provides a curricular guide and activities for a general education course offered for non-math majors. The math content focuses on quantitative literacy and analytical tools used to understand watershed and water quality issues affecting students’ immediate surroundings.

Elementary Statistics: Society and Environment

This teaching manual was developed by Dr. Mangala Kothari, a Co-Principal Investigator of Engaging Mathematics and Mathematics, Engineering and Computer Science Department professor at LaGuardia Community College, with contributions by Alioune Khoule, Marina Nechayeva, Nana Osei Bonsu, Steven Cosares, Milena Cuellar, and Brian Johnson. The activities in the manual cover statistics through a broad range of topics, including hurricanes, the correlation of coffee and sleep, basal metabolic rates, and New York City demographics.

College Algebra—Modeling the City

This teaching manual was developed by Cathy Evins, an Institutional Partner of Engaging Mathematics and Mathematics Lecturer at Roosevelt University, with contributions by Barbara Gonzalez and Mary Williams. The manual provides a curricular guide to college algebra taught through Chicago-based problems and data modeling. Guidance is provided on “flipping” your classroom and incorporating a more active learning classroom environment.

International Sustainability Projects for Calculus

This teaching manual was developed by John Zobitz, an Institutional Partner of Engaging Mathematics and Associate Professor and Department Chair of Mathematics at Augsburg College, in collaboration with Tracy Bibelnieks and Mark Lester. This manual investigates multi-faceted aspects of sustainability of a rural farming cooperative in Central America through analysis of resource allocation, carbon footprints, and exploration of the long-term sustainability for ecotourism development.

Calculus Explorations of Milkweed & Monarchs

This teaching manual was developed by Dr. Rikki Wagstrom, Engaging Mathematics Institutional Partner and Associate Professor of Mathematics at Metropolitan State University. The manual contains two modules for use in either a standard Calculus I-II sequence or a one- semester applied calculus survey course. The first module, Calculus Exploration 1: Rates of Change, explores declining milkweed abundance in Iowa crop fields and the implications for monarch butterflies. The second module, Calculus Exploration 2: Definite Integrals, explores monarch reproduction, a crucial factor for survival of the species.

Great Ideas of Modern Mathematics: Voting Theory

This teaching manual was developed by Dr. Rikki Wagstrom, Engaging Mathematics Institutional Partner and Associate Professor of Mathematics at Metropolitan State University. The manual contains two modules for use in either a standard Calculus I-II sequence or a one- semester applied calculus survey course. The first module, Calculus Exploration 1: Rates of Change, explores declining milkweed abundance in Iowa crop fields and the implications for monarch butterflies. The second module, Calculus Exploration 2: Definite Integrals, explores monarch reproduction, a crucial factor for survival of the species.

For access to the Instructor Solutions Manual, please email Danielle Kraus Tarka.
This manual is available for instructors only.