Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Iowa Academy Of Science: The New Bulletin, V05n3, Autumn 2009, Iowa Academy Of Science

New Bulletin

Inside This Issue:

--Message from the Executive Director

--Lois Hattery Tiffany

--Norman Borlaug

--Iowa Science Teaching Section Fall Conference

--2009 IAS Speaker Series at the Saylorville Visitor Center

--Announcements, Events & Deadlines

--IAS Corporate Memberships

--New REAP Plates Coming Soon

--GLOBE Database

--Membership Update

Education In The Environment: A Strategy For Continued Interagency Outdoor Education Programming: Quarterly Progress Report: Period Ending August 31, 2009, Environmental Education Strategy For Nevada

Reports (PLI Education)

Highlights of the university’s focused efforts during the past three months include the following:

• Evaluation results from the NEEI Certification program will be presented at the North American Association for Environmental Education National Conference on October 9-10, 2009.
• A grant was received from the Nevada Community Foundation for the printing of The Story of Gill graphic novel.
• A total of 75 people participated in Families in Nature events at the Spring Mountains and Lake Mead National Recreation Areas.
• A third Nevada Environmental Education & Interpretation Certification program was held August 12-18, 2009 for twelve participants.
• A third Our Places Tell …

A Computational Study Of The Effects Of Temperature Variation On Turtle Egg Development, Sex Determination, And Population Dynamics, Amy L. Parrott

Department of Mathematics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Climate change and its effects on ecosystems is a major concern. For certain animal species, especially those that exhibit what is known as temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD), temperature variations pose a possibly serious threat (Valenzuela and Lance, 2004). In these species, temperature, and not chromosomes, determines the sex of the animal (Valenzuela and Lance, 2004). It is conceivable therefore, that if the temperature changes to favor only one sex, then dire consequences for their populations could occur. In this dissertation, we examine possible effects that climate change may have upon Painted Turtles (Chrysemys picta), a species with TSD. We investigate …

Fan Cohomology And Equivariant Chow Rings Of Toric Varieties, Mu-Wan Huang

Department of Mathematics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Toric varieties are varieties equipped with a torus action and constructed from cones and fans. In the joint work with Suanne Au and Mark E. Walker, we prove that the equivariant K-theory of an affine toric variety constructed from a cone can be identified with a group ring determined by the cone. When a toric variety X(Δ) is smooth, we interpret equivariant K-groups as presheaves on the associated fan space Δ. Relating the sheaf cohomology groups to equivariant K-groups via a spectral sequence, we provide another proof of a theorem of Vezzosi and Vistoli: equivariant K …

Constructed Response Answers In A Multiple-Choice Universe, Carl W. David

Chemistry Education Materials

A scheme is introduced which allows computer readable multiple choice forms used in traditional examinations to be employed for constructed response items.

Fan Cohomology And Its Application To Equivariant K-Theory Of Toric Varieties, Suanne Au

Department of Mathematics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Mu-Wan Huang, Mark Walker and I established an explicit formula for the equivariant K-groups of affine toric varieties. We also recovered a result due to Vezzosi and Vistoli, which expresses the equivariant K-groups of a smooth toric variety in terms of the K-groups of its maximal open affine toric subvarieties. This dissertation investigates the situation when the toric variety X is neither affine nor smooth. In many cases, we compute the Čech cohomology groups of the presheaf K_q^T on X endowed with a topology. Using these calculations and Walker's Localization Theorem for equivariant K-theory, we give explicit formulas …

Modeling And Analysis Of Biological Populations, Joan Lubben

Department of Mathematics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Asymptotic and transient dynamics are both important when considering the future population trajectory of a species. Asymptotic dynamics are often used to determine whether the long-term trend results in a stable, declining or increasing population and even provide possible directions for management actions. Transient dynamics are important for estimating invasion speed of non-indigenous species, population establishment after releasing biocontrol agents, or population management after a disturbance like fire. We briefly describe here the results in this thesis.

(1) We consider asymptotic dynamics using discrete time linear population models of the form n(t + 1) = An(t) where …

Iowa Academy Of Science: The New Bulletin, V05n2, Summer 2009, Iowa Academy Of Science

New Bulletin

Inside This Issue:

--Message from the Executive Director

--IJAS Students Speak with NASA Scientists

--Geological Society of Iowa Field Trips

--Announcements, Events & Deadlines

--2009 IJAS Annual Meeting Winners

--2009 IAS Speaker Series at the Saylorville Visitor Center

--Remembering Dr. Thomas Huston Macbride

--Iowa Science Teaching Section Fall Conference

--Project WET

Parts Of The Whole: Approaching Education As A System, Dorothy Wallace

Numeracy

An educational system is a highly coupled complex system of inputs, outputs, sensors and actuators. Using an engineering perspective, this column begins the process of naming and categorizing parts of the system. It then focuses on teachers as one part of a large system, and analyzes the forces that influence how teachers work, and that draw or repel individuals to a teaching career. The growing shortage of qualified teachers can be explained by properties of the system as a whole that determine the context in which teachers do their job.

Review Of Super Crunchers By Ian Ayers, Eric Gaze

Numeracy

Ayers, I. Super Crunchers: Why Thinking-by-Numbers Is the New Way to be Smart. (Bantam Dell Publishing Group, 2007). 272 pp. Hard cover $25 ISBN 978-0-553-80540-6.

Super Crunchers tells the story of how analyzing data is changing the ways in which decisions are made. We in the National Numeracy Network make a case for the importance of quantitative literacy by referring to how much quantitative information is now available to each of us: “a world awash in numbers.” Ian Ayres zeroes in on the people who are making a living crunching all of these data. From the seemingly innocuous (how …

Review Of Stat-Spotting: A Field Guide To Identifying Dubious Data By Joel Best, Joe Swingle

Numeracy

Best, Joel. Stat-Spotting: A Field Guide to Identifying Dubious Data. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008) 144 pp. $19.95. ISBN 1-978-0-520-25746-7.

Stat-Spotting is a practical, do-it-yourself manual for detecting questionable claims reported in the media. Using examples drawn mostly from mass media sources, Stat-Spotting provides readers with a number of useful tips for identifying potentially problematic statistics. The author’s skillful analyses and explanations presented in clear and concise prose make Stat-Spotting an ideal guide for anyone who reads a newspaper, watches television, or surfs the Web. In short, everyone.

Review Of Calculation Vs. Context: Quantitative Literacy And Its Implications For Teacher Education By Bernard L. Madison And Lynn Arthur Steen (Editors), Maura B. Mast

Numeracy

Madison, Bernard L. and Steen, Lynn Arthur (Eds.). Calculation vs. Context: Quantitative Literacy and Its Implications for Teacher Education. (Washington, DC: Mathematical Association of America, 2009). 197 pp. Softcover. ISBN 978-0-88385-908-7. Available free on the MAA website at http://www.maa.org/ql/calcvscontext.html

The papers in Calculation vs. Context discuss the role of quantitative literacy in the K-12 curriculum and in teacher education. The papers present a varied set of perspectives and address three themes: the changing environment of education in American society; the challenges, and the necessity, of preparing teachers to teach quantitative literacy and of including quantitative literacy in the K-12 education; …

Engaging Math-Avoidant College Students, M. Paul Latiolais, Wendi Laurence

Numeracy

This paper is an informal, personal account of how we, as two college teachers, became interested in math anxiety, decided to explore it amongst students at our institution in order to inform our teaching, and became convinced that the massive problem is math avoidance. We tried discussion groups, but few students attended, although those that did made useful suggestions. Thus informed, we designed an innovative course, Confronting College Mathematics as a Humanities course with the possibility of credit toward the math requirement, but it was undersubscribed in its first offering and had to be canceled. How can we get college …

Measuring Resource Inequality: The Gini Coefficient, Michael T. Catalano, Tanya L. Leise, Thomas J. Pfaff

Numeracy

This paper stems from work done by the authors at the Mathematics for Social Justice Workshop held in June of 2007 at Middlebury College. We provide a description of the Gini coefficient and some discussion of how it can be used to promote quantitative literacy skills in mathematics courses. The Gini Coefficient was introduced in 1921 by Italian statistician Corrado Gini as a measure of inequality. It is defined as twice the area between two curves. One, the Lorenz curve for a given population with respect to a given resource, represents the cumulative percentage of the resource as a function …

Quantitative Literacy Assessments: An Introduction To Testing Tests, Dorothy Wallace, Kim Rheinlander, Steven Woloshin, Lisa Schwartz

Numeracy

This paper describes how professional evaluators construct assessment instruments that work properly to measure the right thing. Constructing an assessment tool begins with getting feedback from relevant experts on the content of questions. The tool is developed and refined through comparison with existing instruments, focus groups and cognitive interviews. The final instrument is formally tested for content validity, usability, reliability and construct validity through a variety of statistical measures. This process of construction is illustrated by two examples relevant to quantitative literacy: the Medical Data Interpretation Test and the Math Attitudes Survey.

Integration With Writing Programs: A Strategy For Quantitative Reasoning Program Development, Nathan D. Grawe, Carol A. Rutz

Numeracy

As an inherently interdisciplinary endeavor, quantitative reasoning (QR) risks falling through the cracks between the traditional “silos” of higher education. This article describes one strategy for developing a truly cross-campus QR initiative: leverage the existing structures of campus writing programs by placing QR in the context of argument. We first describe the integration of Carleton College’s Quantitative Inquiry, Reasoning, and Knowledge initiative with the Writing Program. Based on our experience, we argue that such an approach leads to four benefits: it reflects important aspects of QR often overlooked by other approaches; it defuses the commonly raised objection that QR is …

Assessing Quantitative Reasoning, Corrine H. Taylor

Numeracy

No abstract provided.

Enhancing Ocean Literacy Using Real-Time Data, Lisa G. Adams, George Matsumoto

Faculty Articles

No abstract provided.

Education In The Environment: A Strategy For Continued Interagency Outdoor Education Programming: Fourth Quarter Progress Report With Annual Report: Period Ending May 31,2009, Margaret N. Rees

Reports (PLI Education)

Highlights of the university 's focused efforts during the past three months include the following:

• Twenty-four people from the Summer and Fall 2008 cohorts have successfully graduated from the Nevada State Certification in Environmental and Interpretation Program.
• Planning continues for the mobile exhibit program to support and deliver SNAP messages.
• Fifty people have participated in each of two SNAP Families & Nature events, and will participate in an educational field trip to the Spring Mountains on June 20, 2009
• Forever Earth was scheduled on 53 days involving 1985 individuals.
• Discover Mojave Outdoor World conducted 17 events for 329 participants.
• A …

Approximating Sums Of Infinite Series, Kara Garrison, Thomas E. Price

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2009

The Euler-Maclaurin summation formula is frequently used to efficiently estimate sums of infinite series of the form $\sum_{j=1}^{\infty}f(j)$. The purpose of this article is to describe a modification of this numerical technique designed to simplify and reduce the computational effort required to obtain an acceptable estimate of the sum. The modified formula is obtained by replacing $f\left( x\right) $ with an easily constructed polynomial like interpolating function $a\left( x\right) $ designed to simplify the calculation of the integral and derivatives associated with Euler-Maclaurin. This approach provides a more tractable algorithm which can be written as a matrix equation. Examples are …

Are Mathematical Entities Real?, Phillip E. Lestmann

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2009

This talk will introduce ontological questions related to mathematics. After surveying the views of Plato and Artistotle, other possible philosophical perspectives will be considered including realism, nominalism, conceptualism, and empiricism with their relative strengths and weaknesses. The discussion will conclude with a possible biblical foundation for mathematical ontology.

History Of Mathematics In The Service Of School Mathematics Education, Calvin Jongsma

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2009

This slide presentation outlines the author's use of history of mathematics in teaching a mathematics-content course to prospective middle school mathematics teachers. A pedagogical rationale for using history of mathematics is given, along with a case study illustrating its use for teaching the topic of ratio and proportion drawing upon the numerical and geometrical theories of such found in Euclid's Elements.

A Career Preparation Course For Students In Mathematics And Computer Science, Donna Pierce, Peter A. Tucker

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2009

As professors, we all want our students to succeed, and to be motivated to study. We all get questions from students that can be boiled down to, "What can I do with X degree?" Certainly, a quick answer is to point students to career websites, or to send them to the career services department on campus. However, we want to do better than that. We want students to learn how to investigate these future directions, and to have them think about their future more holistically--not just an effort to find a job. To that end, we have developed a course …

Integrating Dynamic Software Into Geometry Courses At Middle School, High School, And College Levels: Ten Lesson Plan And Instruction Material Units Incorporating Geometer's Sketchpad Version 4.07, Jamie Blauw, Lauren Zylstra, Dave Klanderman

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2009

This paper explores the use of dynamic geometry software (Geometer's Sketchpad) in the teaching and learning of Geometry at the high school and college level. As part of an honors project, two of the authors created a series of lesson activities to address specific geometric concepts. Each lesson implements Geometer's Sketchpad to create an engaging student-centered learning environment.

A Vision For Acms, James Bradley

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2009

This paper applies McGrath's and Heller's approach to the consideration of mathematics. It assumes that mathematics is not self-interpreting, but that, looked at from a framework informed by the Christian scriptures, it can be seen as having significant meaning and value and a transcendent purpose. In particular, it presents a classical interpretation of mathematics broadly conceived, presents two approaches to providing warrant for such an interpretation, and explores some implications. It argues, by means of the example of the classical interpretation, that the relationship between mathematics and theology is a viable area of scholarly inquiry encompassing profound and fascinating questions. …

The Development Of Mathematical And Spiritual Maturity In The Undergraduate Mathematics Curriculum, Angela Hare

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2009

Colleges and universities that teach mathematics have a responsibility to develop in students an appreciation of the powerful tools they are studying in the mathematics curriculum. Beyond this fundamental responsibility, the Christian college or university has the richer task of equipping mathematics graduates to use their mathematical knowledge and skills to sharpen their spiritual insight, to serve others, and to promote justice and freedom in society. The growth in mathematical maturity that occurs during the undergraduate years is an asset that enables Christian students of mathematics to participate in the redemptive work of Jesus Christ through their discipline of study. …

Monoids For Math Majors, Brian D. Beasley

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2009

Inspired by an MAA PREP workshop on “The Art of Factorization in Multiplicative Structures”, this paper will treat the basics of congruence monoids and arithmetical congruence monoids with their potential for a Modern Algebra or capstone course.

Professor Peacock's Symbolical Algebra: Glimpses Into The Life And Work Of A Mathematical Reformer, Richard Stout

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2009

In his 1859 obituary of George Peacock (Royal Society of London, 1859),the nineteenth century mathematician and Dean of Ely Cathedral, his friend and long-time colleague J. F. W. Herschel not only lists Peacock's accomplishments as an educator, a churchman, and a mathematician, but also describes a man who embodies warmth and wisdom, the kind of person you would enjoy knowing and having as a colleague. Writing about Peacock in the Memoirs of the Royal Astronomical Society, Augustus DeMorgan echoes these sentiments when he says that "Whenever a man of safe judgment was wanted, who united kindness and courtesy to a …

Can Critical Thinking Be Redeemed?, Jeremy Case

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2009

We often claim that mathematics develops critical thinking skills. Critical thinking has many different definitions, but problem solving, deduction, analyzing arguments, and identifying assumptions are all certainly a part of critical thinking. As the trend in higher education moves away from focusing exclusively on content towards assessment and learning outcomes, we can justify our endeavors since mathematics and critical thinking align themselves well.

However, when examining the ultimate purpose of critical thinking in higher education, we must take care. If there is no agreed upon content knowledge in our postmodern age, the focus of education falls elsewhere. How one thinks …

Fire! Lessons Learned And Applied To Computer Systems, Kim P. Kihlstrom

ACMS Conference Proceedings 2009

A wildfire swept through Santa Barbara on November 13, 2008, burning 1940 acres and destroying 230 homes. Nine structures on the Westmont College campus were destroyed as well as fifteen faculty homes near campus. What insights can be drawn from this experience? We will examine some of the lessons that can be applied to the design of intrusion-tolerant computer systems.