Please keep in mind that assignments beyond today's are speculative and may change!
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9/9: These are due on 9/14 at the beginning of class unless otherwise noted. Exercises in red cannot be collected, but are just as important as the exercises in black.
- Log into the Blackboard site for this course. (Yes, this is part of your assignment!) If you were not automatically enrolled, enroll in the course. If you have any trouble, view this page through Internet Explorer. Please do this before our next class on 9/11! There is also an announcement on the Blackboard site about turnitin.com. Please read it and follow directions.
- Read the course introduction handout carefully.
- You have one million dollars to invest. Choose six stocks in which to invest your million dollars, three from the service sector and three from the production sector. You must invest at least $100,000 in each stock. Any leftover funds will be put into a cash fund, which will earn 1% annual interest, compounded monthly, for an APR of approximately 1.005%. (You may have at most $400,000 in cash.) Bring your list of stocks (the company name and abbreviation), the stock price at the close of business tomorrow (September 10), and the number of shares of each that you wish to purchase. This information should be written on a piece of paper you can turn in.
- Type the information from your stock into the document at and this link and save a copy for yourself. You could just print the spreadsheet and bring the printout to class to meet the previous assignment.
FOR OUR NEXT CLASS, 9/11/2009:
- Read one of the following articles on the web:
- Pythagorus Plays Ball: Is home plate really the right size?
- Going With the Crowd: How should you choose where to eat? If you choose to read this one, play the online game at the link provided in the article. It's pretty cool.
- The Iced Foot Effect: Should the coach try to "ice" the kicker by calling a timeout?
- Laying Track: This one could bring back memories, if you like Thomas the Tank Engine.
- Type a short (a few paragraphs, in your own words) commentary on how mathematics was used in the article. Be prepared to discuss the article in class. I will collect the typed documents in class. If you have trouble printing your document, e-mail it to me at my gmail address before class. Documents submitted after or during class will not be accepted.
9/11: These are due on 9/16. To get us started...
- Read Chapter 5, Sections 5.4, 5.5, 5.6, and 5.7. You may read the earlier sections of you wish, but we will not be dealing with them specifically. We will not be working with histograms or stemplots yet.
- From Chapter 5, do Skills Check exercises 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14. Show your work on these exercises! Just writing down the correct letter will not receive any credit!
- From Chapter 5, do Exercises 11a, 12b, 19, 20, 30ab, 31.
9/14: Due 9/18.
- Read Section 5.8 and section 5.9.
- Do Skills Check exercises: 16, 17, 19, 20.
- Do exercises 41, 42, 43, 45.
9/16: Due 9/21. A table of random digits ** A discussion topi ** We will have our first quiz today.
- Read Chapter 7 up to Section 7.7, page 270.
- Do Skills check exercises 1-8, 10 from Chapter 7.
- Do exercises 1, 2, 7, 8.
- Parking can be a challenge on campus! To assess the situation, the college intends to find out how many cars are parked on campus at any time. The powers that be have decided to administer a survey to a sample of 200 members of the college community. Make a recommendation on how this sample should be chosen. Type your recommendation in a word processing document and submit it through turnitin.com. A one page document should be sufficient, but your document should be self-contained, explaining the problem you're addressing and why your recommendation is appropriate. Comment on both the strengths and weaknesses of your method. Your work must be submitted before class on 9/21.
9/18: Due 9/23. Today's discussion question
- Finish reading Chapter 7.
- Do Skills Check exercises 11-18 from Chapter 7.
- Do exercises 42-45 from Chapter 7.
- Enter your investment data into this spreadsheet in the row designated by your name.
Week 3
9/21: These exercises will not be collected. Use them to study for the exam. Today's Thought Problem
- Read Chapter 8, up to Section 8.4 on page 309.
- Do Skills Check exercises 1-5, 7, 8, 11, 12.
- Do exercises 3, 4, 9, 12, 19, 21.
9/23: Last day to add or drop a class! These exercises will not be collected. Use them to study for the exam.
- Read Section 8.5 in FAPP.
- Do exercises 22, 23, 24, 32, 36, 39ab, 41 from Chapter 8 in FAPP.
- PLEASE ENTER YOUR INVESTMENT DATA (INCLUDING THE NUMBER OF SHARES YOU PURCHASED) INTO THE SPREADSHEET (SEE THE ASSIGNMENT GIVEN 9/18) BEFORE FRIDAY! SOMEONE WILL BE ENTERING CONSISTENT STOCK PRICES OVER THE WEEKEND, AND WILL INVEST FOR YOU IF YOU HAVEN'T INVESTED YOURSELF!
9/25: Class cancelled due to a meeting in Madison.
9/28: Review for Exam 1
9/30: Exam 1 over the materical covered from 9/9-9/23. This includes parts of Chapters 5, 7, and 8, together with everything we've discussed in class that's not in the book.
10/2: Due 10/7: For Today
- Read Sections 9.1 and 9.2 in FAPP.
- Do Skills Check exercises 1, 5, 7, 9 from Chapter 9 in FAPP.
- Do exercises 7, 8abc, 9abc, 13abc, 14abd, 15a.
10/5: Due 10/9
- Read Sections 9.3 and 9.4 in FAPP.
- Do exercises 22, 24, 27.
10/7: Due 10/12
- The
math club is trying to decide on a t-shirt design. There are three
potential designs: Al's alpha design, Betty's beta design, and Greg's
gamma design. The voting preferences of the club are given below.
4 4 1 6 2 3 First Choice alpha alpha beta beta gamma gamma Second Choice beta gamma alpha gamma alpha beta Third Choice gamma beta gamma alpha beta alpha a) Calculate the vote tally for a 1-s-0 positional voting method.
b) Using the results from problem a, determine the winner (including the tally) for s=0, s=1/3, s=1/2, and s=1.
c) Draw the voting line described in class to determine all possible outcomes of this election if we use a 1-s-0 positional voting method.2) For the data in exercise 7 from Chapter 9 of FAPP, do the following.
a) Calculate the vote tally for a 1-s-0 positional voting method.
b) Using the results from problem a, determine the winner (including the tally) for s=0, s=1/3, s=1/2, and s=1.
c) Draw the voting line described in class to determine all possible outcomes of this election if we use a 1-s-0 positional voting method
10/9: Due 10/14. Today's spreadsheet.
- Read Chapter 14 in FAPP, up to Section 14.3 (page 514).
- Do Skills Check exercises 1, 10 from Chapter 14 in FAPP.
- Do exercises 1, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12.
10/12: Due 10/16. Today's spreadsheet. The 1820 census, actual. The 1820 census, modified , The 1880 census, actual
- Read Section 14.3 in FAPP. Don't worry about the material on critical divisors.
- Do Skills Check exercises 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 13, 18 from Chapter 14 in FAPP.
- Do exercises 15, 16, 21, 22, 23, 28.
10/14:
- We will finish apportionment today. No additional assignment.
10/16: Quiz over the material covered from 10/2-10/12.
Due 10/21.
- Write a one-page paper on a situation in life that can be modelled using the ideas we described in class today. What are the outcomes? Turn in your paper via turnitin.com before class on the 21st.
10/19: Due 10/28.
- Read 15.1-15.2 in FAPP.
- Do skills check exercises 1-2, 13, 14.
- Do exercises 6, 7, 8, 10, 16.
10/21: These exercises will not be collected. Use them to study for the exam.
- Read Section 15.3 in FAPP.
- Do exercises 20-24, finding the Nash equilibrium (or equilibria) in each case. You don't need to discuss the sensibility of the equilibria in great detail.
10/23: Review for the exam.
10/26: Exam 2, over the material covered from 10/2-10/21.
10/28: Due 11/2
- Read Sections 1.1-1.2, pages 1-12, in FAPP. That includes the spotlights!
- Do Skills Check (page 22) exercises 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11
- Do Exercises (page 25) 1, 4, 11, 12, 18, 43, 50 from Chapter 1 in FAPP.
10/30: Last day to drop a course with a W. Due 11/4
- Read the rest of Chapter 1, pages 12-21 in FAPP. - Do Skills Check (page 24) exercises 12, 13, 15, 18, 19.
- Do exercises 21, 32, 33, 34, 35, and 57 from Chapter 1 in FAPP.
11/2: Due 11/9
- Sometimes my family plays a little game at dinner. Starburst candies come in packages of two. Starbust candies come in four flavors: cherry (red), orange (orange), lemon (yellow), and strawberry (pink). We try to guess what colors we'll see in each package. How many different guesses are possible?
- Fred flips a coin with sides numbered 1 and 2 and Ed rolls a fair die (numbered 1-6). The numbers are added together. How many possible sums can occur? Which sums are the most probable to occur and why?
- From Chapter 2 in FAPP, do exercises 22, 23, 26, 27, 30.
11/4: Due 11/11
- Read Chapter 2, up to Section 2.2. You don't need to read Section 2.2 yet.
- From Chapter 2, do Skills Check exercises 1, 6, 9, 10, 11, 12.
- Do exercises 1, 2, 3, 6, 7
11/6: Class cancelled due to conference.
11/9: This homework will not be collected.
- Read Chapter 2, Section 2.2 and 2.3 up to the section on Minimum-Cost Spanning Trees.
- From Chapter 2 in FAPP, do exercises 35, 42, 44.
11/11: This homework will not be collected.
- Read Chapter 2, Section 2.3.
- From Chapter 2 in FAPP, do exercises 51, 54, 62.
11/13: Review for Exam 3
11/16: Exam 3 over the material covered from 10/28-11/11
11/18: Due 11/30. Today's Spreadsheet
- Read Chapter 21 in FAPP, up to Section 21.3.
- Do Skills Check exercises 1-3, 6, 7, 9 from Chapter 21 in FAPP.
- Do exercises 3, 4, 5, 6,7, 9 from Chapter 21 in FAPP.
11/20: Due 12/2
- Read Section 21.3 in FAPP.
- Do Skills Check exercises 4, 10, 16.
- Do exercises 13ac (for c, you're using daily compounding over 365 days).
- Suppose you invest in an account that pays 6.2% interest compounded quarterly. What is the APY?
- Suppose you invest in an account that pays 6.2% interest compounded continuously. What is the APY?
November 23-27: Thanksgiving Break! Have a Blessed Thanksgiving!
Week 12
11/30: Due 12/4
- Read Section 21.4 in FAPP.
- Do Skills Check exercises 11, 15.
- Do exercises 15a, 18, 19, 22, 25.
12/2: Due 12/9
- Read Section 21.5 in FAPP, up to the section on the Consumer Price Index.
- Do Skills Check exercise 19.
- Do exercises 29, 30.
12/4: This homework will not be collected.
- Finish Section 21.5 in FAPP, and read the rest of page 813.
- Do exercises 32, 33, 43.
12/7: This homework will not be collected.
- Read Chapter 22 in FAPP, up to Section 22.3. We will go over some of this material in detail in the future.
- Do Skills Check Exercises 3, 4, 8, 9, 11.
- Do exercises 3, 4, 15, 16, 17.W
12/9: This homework will not be collected. Relevant spreadsheets: simple loan, credit card. Relevant links: credit score, free credit report , credit card calculator
- Do Skills Check Exercises 7, 8.
- For any credit cards you have: a) Find the interest rate; b) Find how the minimum payment is computed; c) Figure out (perhaps using the spreadsheet) how long it will take you to pay off your balance if you continue your current habits!
12/11: This homework will not be collected. Relevant spreadsheet: mortgage. Relevant links: mortgage rates , mortgage calculator
- 1) Do exercises 19, 20, 21.
- Suppose in exercise 19, you were offered a rate of 6.25% if you paid 1 point. Should you take the offer if you plan to stay in your home a long time?
12/14: Review for the Exam 4.
Finals
Our fourth exam is on Wednesday, December 16, at 10:30 am. It will cover the material from 11/18-12/11.