Math 1330 - Calculus for Life Sciences - Fall 2012
Dr. Radu C. Cascaval

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Course Description

Math 1330 is designed to teach the mathematics necessary to do biology in today's quantitative age. It provides a systematic introduction to calculus concepts useful in the life sciences, such as rates of change, limits, differentiation and integration, with emphasis on applications in the life sciences and the areas connected to modeling biological processes, such as differential equations and dynamical systems The course is designed for students who are required to take only one semester of calculus. Students whose major requires MATH 1360 and/or beyond should take instead the standard Calculus course, MATH 1350 or MATH 1310/1320.

Prerequisites

This course requires no previous exposure to calculus, but assumes fresh knowledge of algebra and trigonometry. A course in precalculus (such as Math 1050 or equivalent) passed with a grade of C or better in the past two years is expected. Alternately, you must score 87% or higher on the Precalculus Placement Test and a score of 50% or higher on the Calculus Placement Test. Please visit the Math Placement Test website for more information.

Homework:

Each section covered in the textbook has a list of assigned problems. You are required to turn in (once a week, usually Tuesdays unless otherwise specified) the problems assigned for the sections covered in class. For a up-to-the-minute schedule of the assignments, always consult the course website. NO LATE HOMEWORK WILL BE ACCEPTED FOR CREDIT. The lowest HMW grade will be dropped.

Grading and Atendance:

The course grade will be based on the cumulative score from homework assignments (each worth 10 points), weekly quizzes (each worth 5 points), three midterms (each worth 50 pts), and the final exam, worth 150 pts. The two lowest quizzes and HMW grades will be dropped.

To make the most of your class, you are expected to attend every class session. Attendance will be taken on random days.You should notify (in advance) the instructor if you need to miss more than one session. Supporting documentation may be required. Students who accumulate more than two undocumented absences between exam dates may not be allowed to sit in the following exam. Although attendance and participation do not formally enter the grade, they will be taken into account every time one's score falls close to the cut-off value for a particular letter grade. At the same time you may be assured that if your score is at least 90% (or 80%,70%), then your letter grade will be at least A (or B, C respectively).

Exams

Exam 1: Thursday, Sept 20
Exam 2: Thursday, Oct 18
Exam 3: Tuesday, Nov 13
Comprehensive Final Exam: Thursday, Dec 13 (8:00-10:30am)

There will be no make up exams so please mark your calendars! If a student informs me well before the exam date about absolutely having to miss an upcoming exam AND provides acceptable written verification in support of the request, then the final exam score will be used to replace that particular exam. If any of the above conditions is not satisfied, the student will get a zero on the missed exam. The above procedure may only be applied once. The Final Exam cannot be missed under any circumstances.

Learning Resources

I am here to help you succeed in the course. So first and foremost please utilize my office hours if you are having questions about the material covered in class or in the textbook. Students in this course will have a dedicated SI session (see below) that can also help you with questions.You may use this for questions regarding homework, computer algebra systems, review for exams or any other course material that you are having difficulty with.

For refreshing your precalculus skills, there are various useful web resources you may use (some will be posted on the course website). On campus, free tutoring service is available at the Math Learning Center (MLC) located in EN 136. Please visit the MLC website http://www.uccs.edu/~mathcenter/ for more information.

Supplemental Instruction

A Supplemental Instruction (SI) component is provided for all students who want to improve their understanding of the material taught in this course. SI sessions are led by a student who has already mastered the course material and has been trained to facilitate group sessions where students can meet to compare class notes, review and discuss important concepts, develop strategies for studying, and prepare for exams. Attendance at SI sessions is free and voluntary. Students may attend as many times as they choose. SI sessions begin the second week of class and continue throughout the semester. A session schedule will be announced in class. For information about the program and session schedule/updates, visit: http://www.uccs.edu/~mathcenter/si_and_help.html

Other policies:

To make the most of your class, you are required to attend every class session. Students should notify (in advance) the instructor if they need to miss more than one session. Supporting documentation may be required. Drop dates: Please seek counseling from the Dean's office before dropping any course and note the following important dates: Sept 6 – last day to drop and receive a full tuition refund; Oct 26 – last day to drop without special permission from the Dean.

Academic Dishonesty:

Academic honesty is fundamental to the activities and principles of a university. All members of the academic community must be confident that each person's work has been responsibly and honorably acquired, developed, and presented. Any effort to gain an advantage not given to all students is dishonest whether or not the effort is successful. The academic community regards academic dishonesty as an extremely serious matter, with serious consequences that range from probation to expulsion. When in doubt about plagiarism, paraphrasing, quoting, or collaboration, consult the course instructor.

Disability Services:

If you are a student with a disability and believe you will need accommodations for this class, it is your responsibility to contact and register with the Disability Services Office, and provide them with documentation of your disability, so they can determine what accommodations are appropriate for your situation. To avoid any delay in the receipt of accommodations, you should contact the Disability Services Office as soon as possible. Please note that accommodations are not retroactive, and that disability accommodations cannot provided until an accommodation letter has been given to me. Please contact Disability Services for more information about receiving accommodations at Main Hall room 105, 719-255-3354 or dservice@uccs.edu

Tentative Schedule for Fall 2012:
(Check the Assignments page for most up to date info)

		Week 1		8/20-8/24		1.1 Biology and Dynamics 1.2 Variables, Parameters and Functions in Biology 1.3 The Units and Dimensions of Measurements and Functions
		Week 2		8/27-8/31		1.4 Linear Fundctions and Their Graphs 1.5 Discrete-Time Dynamical Systems 1.6 Analysis of Discrete Time Dynamical Systems
		Week 3		9/3-9/7		- Labor day (no class Tues, 9/4) 1.7 Expressing Solutions with Exponential Functions 1.8 Oscillations and Trigonometry
		Week 4		9/10-9/14		1.9 A Model of Gas Exchange in the Lung 1.10 An Example of Nonlinear Dynamics 1.11 An Excitable System: The Heart
		Week 5		9/17-9/21		- Review of Chapter 1 - Exam 1 2.1 Introduction to Derivatives
		Week 6		9/24-9/28		2.2 Limits 2.3 Continuity 2.4 Computing Derivatives: Linear and Quadratic Functions
		Week 7		10/1-10/5		2.5 Derivatives of Sums, Powers and Polynomials 2.6 Derivatives of Products and Quotients 2.7 The Second Derivative, Curvature, and Acceleration
		Week 8		10/8-10/12		2.8 Derivatives of Exponential and Logarithmic Functions 2.9 The Chain Rule 2.10 Derivative of Trigonometric Functions
		Week 9		10/15-10/19		- Review of Chapter 2 - Exam 2 3.1 Stability and the Derivative
		Week 10		10/22-10/26		3.2 More Complicated Dynamics 3.3 Maximization 3.4 Reasoning about Functions
				10/29-11/2		3.5 Limits at Infinity 3.6 Leading Behavior and L'Hopital Rule 3.7 Approximating Functions with Lines and Polynomials
		Week 11		11/5-11/9		3.8 Newton's Method 3.9 Panting and Deep Breathing - Review of Chapter 3
		Week 12		11/12-11/16		- Exam 3 4.1 Differential Equations 4.2 Solving Pure-Time Differential Equations
		Week 13		11/19-11/23		4.3 Integration of Special Functions, Integration by Substitution, by Parts and by Partial Fractions - Thanksgiving Break (no classes Thursday or Friday)
		Week 14		11/26-11/30		4.4 Integrals and Sums 4.5 Definite and Indefinite Integrals 4.6 Applications of Integrals
		Week 15		12/3-12/7		4.7 Improper Integrals - Review of Chapter 4 - Review for Final Exam
				12/13		Comprehensive Final Exam Thursday, December 13 (8:00-10:30am)

The instructor reserves the right to make modifications to this syllaus and announce them in class. Always check the website for the most up-to-date version.