PATTERNS IN ENVIRONMENTAL MATH SPRING 2019 UPDATE PAGE
SITARAMAN
Course Page with syllabus and general information

Welcome.
Here you will see info about what we did in class, upcoming exams, solutions for past exams, etc.,

Here is what we did last time I taught this class: UPDATE PAGE FROM FALL 2015
Not everything will be the same but you can get an idea.

CHECK AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK!!
Started 1/11/2019



Friday, May 3, 2019
SOLUTIONS TO FINAL EXAM
Hope to post grades on bisonweb by monday.
Please email me if you have questions about grade.
Have a great summer! Best wishes!

FINAL EXAM MAY 2 THU ASB-B 213 FROM 12.30 TO 2.30 PM.
PLEASE READ CLASS NOTES, ASSIGNMENTS, TESTS AND TEST REVIEW PROBLEMS.
NO CALCULATORS IN TEST! WILL GIVE SMALL NUMBERS OR LET YOU LEAVE AS POWERS.
The problems in FINAL will be similar to those in the CLASS NOTES, ASSIGNMENTS AND TESTS.
FINAL WEEK OFFICE HOURS: Monday 4/29: 3 to 5pm, Tuesday 4/30 3 to 5pm, Wednesday 5/1 12.30 to 2.30pm

Wednesday, May 1, 2019
MAKE-UP TEST 3 PROBLEMS
SOLUTIONS TO MAKE-UP TEST 3

Friday, 4/26/2019
I have put the grade sheet with the grades as of today, 4/26, on Blackboard
Click on CONTENT to see it. Zoom in if it doesn't look clear. Or download and open in your computer.
See below for explanation of the grade.
FINAL EXAM IS 200 OUT OF 600! SO YOU CAN STILL IMPROVE GRADE.
BUT REMEMBER THAT ON THE AVERAGE PEOPLE DO WORSE IN FINAL, SO YOU NEED TO STUDY HARD.
IF YOU DO POORLY IN FINAL, GRADE COULD DROP SUBSTANTIALLY.


Thursday, April 25, 2019
TEST 3 PROBLEMS
SOLUTIONS TO TEST 3

TEST III APRIL 24 WED (LAST TEST BEFORE FINAL)
PLEASE READ CLASS NOTES STARTING FROM 4/3, ASSIGNMENTS 16-20 AND REVIEW PROBLEMS.
NO CALCULATORS IN TEST! WILL GIVE SMALL NUMBERS OR LET YOU LEAVE AS POWERS.
The problems in test will be similar to those in the CLASS NOTES, ASSIGNMENTS
AND THESE REVIEW PROBLEMS
SOLUTIONS TO REVIEW PROBLEMS

Monday, 4/22/19
Happy Earth Day! Solutions for review problems are above.

Please complete teacher evaluations asap. They have been sent by email.


Friday, 4/19/19
Assignment 20 answers.

Wednesday, 4/17/2019
All project presentations must be finished (preferably) in class on friday.
Attendance on friday is 5% of project grade.
Please see test 3 information above.



Monday, 4/15/19.
FIRST TASK OF PROJECT CAN BE TURNED IN BY MIDNIGHT TONIGHT..
PRESENTATIONS WILL BEGIN WEDNESDAY.
PLEASE MAKE SURE TO BE IN CLASS FOR PRESENTATION IF YOU WISH TO GET FULL CREDIT.
ALSO NOTE FINAL EXAM AND TEST III DATES ABOVE.

Please try the Assignment 20 below using the updated notes.
We won't go over this on wednesday.
Updated Notes on Basic Probability Theory
YOU MAY NEED TO RELOAD THE NOTES FILE
Assignment 20.

Assignment 19 answers.


Friday, 4/12/19.
FIRST TASK OF PROJECT WAS DUE BY TODAY (SEE BELOW).
ALSO NOTE FINAL EXAM AND TEST III DATES ABOVE.

We looked at some basics of probability theory --combinations- today.
Please try the Assignment 19 below.
Updated Notes on Basic Probability Theory
YOU MAY NEED TO RELOAD THE NOTES FILE
Assignment 19..

Assignment 18 answers.


Wednesday, 4/8/19.
FIRST TASK OF PROJECT DUE BY FRIDAY (SEE BELOW).
ALSO NOTE FINAL EXAM AND TEST III DATES ABOVE.

We looked at some basics of probability theory --permutations- today.
Please read the following notes and try the Assignment 18 below.
WE WILL NOT GO OVER ALL OF ASSIGNMENT IN CLASS, ESPECIALLY PART INVOLVING PERMUTATIONS
But I WILL go over the question on combinations on friday because we didn't cover it in class today.
Updated Notes on Basic Probability Theory
Assignment 18..

Assignment 17 answers.


Monday, 4/8/19.
FIRST TASK OF PROJECT DUE BY FRIDAY (SEE BELOW).
ALSO NOTE FINAL EXAM AND TEST III DATES ABOVE.

We looked at some basics of probability theory today.
Please read the following notes and try the Assignment 17 below.
WE WILL NOT GO OVER ALL OF ASSIGNMENT IN CLASS, ESPECIALLY PART INVOLVING VIDEO BELOW.
Notes on Basic Probability Theory
Assignment 17.
You will need to watch this video on probability and climate change.

Friday, 4/5/2019
Today we discussed Assignment 16.See answers below.
We also watched this video of Howard Alums discussing their Solar Company
Assignment 16 Answers

PROJECTS ARE ON BLACKBOARD. FIRST TASK DUE APRIL 12.
Go to course page, click on Groups and then on the group name with your name on it.
Then click on Group Tasks under "Tools" and follow instructions.
You must finish that task and put the result in Excel or Word file as appropriate using "File Exchange" tool.
You must also present the project the class or to me, after April 12.
You must finish task by April 12 to get 100%.
If you miss this deadline you can get at most 90%.


Wednesday, 4/3/19.
We looked at some applications and definitions from the fields of energy and environmental justice.
Please read the following notes and try the Assignment 16 below.
Notes on Energy and Statistics in Environmental Justice Studies
Assignment 16.
You will need to watch this video on amount of solar panels needed to power all of US
Reference material (MIT notes on energy units) for today's talk

We also watched A trailer of "Shelter in Place", a movie about environmental justice fight in Port Arthur, TX
Other useful resources:
AMS video about math used in Wind Power technology
The Five Largest Solar Farms in the World
A gym that can also produce electric power

Monday, 4-1-19
SOLUTIONS TO TEST II
TEST II problems

TEST II ON APRIL 1.
PLEASE READ CLASS NOTES STARTING FROM 2/27, ASSIGNMENTS 10-15 AND REVIEW PROBLEMS.
NO CALCULATORS IN TEST! WILL GIVE SMALL NUMBERS OR LET YOU LEAVE AS POWERS.
The problems in test will be similar to those in the ASSIGNMENTS
AND THESE REVIEW PROBLEMS
SOLUTIONS TO REVIEW PROBLEMS

Friday, 3/29/2019
Assignment 15 Answers


Wednesday, 3/27/19.
Here are the Slides from today's guest lecture by Nicole Sitaraman
Nicole is Senior Manager of Public Policy at Sunrun, the largest rooftop solar company.
Her contact info is in the penultimate slide.


Monday, 3/25/19.
GUEST LECTURE ON WEDNESDAY!
NICOLE SITARAMAN WILL TALK ON "SOLAR ENERGY: EQUITY AND ACCESS."
Nicole is Senior Manager of Public Policy at SunRun, the largest rooftop solar company in the US.

We continued on basics of statistics -this time percentile ranks.
So far we have discussed frequency tables, averages, mean, median, mode and standard deviation.
Here are the UPDATED Notes on basic statistics (Thanks to Dr. McGowan).
NOTE: Dr. McGowan will be teaching "Introduction to Statistics for Environmental Studies" in the fall.

Assignment 15
The scores in a certain test are 85, 46, 64, 52, 61, 91, 56, 72, 70, 82.
Find the percentile rank of 64, 91 and 46 (first arrange in ascending order).
What are the scores in the 90th percentile?
Find the values in the middle quintile (40 to 60 percentile) and calculate the percentage of the total score coming from that quintile.

Assignment 14 Answers

We also looked at this Census data on income distribution
as an example for quintiles.


Friday, 3/22/19.
We continued on basics of statistics with some examples coming from environmental studies.
So far we have discussed frequency tables, averages, mean, median, mode and standard deviation.
Here are the UPDATED Notes on basic statistics (Thanks to Dr. McGowan).
NOTE: Dr. McGowan will be teaching "Introduction to Statistics for Environmental Studies" in the fall.
Assignment 14
You MUST use Excel for this assignment.
Look at this table of incomes from the US Census bureau
and calculate the mean, median, mode and standard deviation of the (median) household incomes in 2017 AND 2016
IN THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES: Ages 15-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45-54, 55-64, 65 and above.

There is more data tables like this in this US Census bureau website.

Assignment 13 Answers

We also looked at this Study of relation between air pollution and happiness in China
and briefly talked about the Bell curve (Normal distribution).
Here is a graph of the Bell curve of heights of men and women in the US.

ATTENTION: GUEST LECTURE ON WEDNESDAY MARCH 27
NICOLE SITARAMAN WILL TALK ON "SOLAR ENERGY: EQUITY AND ACCESS."



Wednesday, 3/20/19.
We started basics of statistics with some examples coming from environmental studies.
Here are the Notes on basic statistics (Thanks to Dr. McGowan).
NOTE: Dr. McGowan will be teaching "Introduction to Statistics for Environmental Studies" in the fall.
Assignment 13
Both questions use Table 3 from the notes on statistics above.
Question 1: Make a stem-leaves table for the number of fires each year from the table 3.
The stems will be the first 3 digits of the data and the leaves will be the last digit.
Question 2: Make a frequency table showing frequency of wildfires numbering in the 1000's, 2000's, and so on.

Assignment 12 Answers

ATTENTION: GUEST LECTURE ON WEDNESDAY MARCH 27
NICOLE SITARAMAN WILL TALK ON "SOLAR ENERGY: EQUITY AND ACCESS."



Monday, 3/18/19.
We reviewed some basics of logarithms and two examples of geometric sequences coming from environmental studies.
Please read the following examples from Martin Walter's "Mathematics for the Environment" and answer the two questions below.
Example 1: How automobile companies killed trolley lines.
Example 2: Local economy and Multiplier effect.
Assignment 12
Question 1: (from example 1) How long would it take the service to be 1/3 of the original amount?
Question 2: (from example 2, Scenario 2) How much will be spent and how much will be saved if 20% is saved and 80% spent in local economy?
Question 3:(Use basic properties of logarithms) Solve for x: log(x+1) - log(x) = 2.
Remember that logx means logarithm to the base 10.
ATTENTION: GUEST LECTURE ON WEDNESDAY MARCH 27
NICOLE SITARAMAN WILL TALK ON "SOLAR ENERGY: EQUITY AND ACCESS."



Friday, 3/8/19.
Happy Spring Break!
Midterm grades have been posted. Please check email to read more about it.
Please make sure you understand the assignment problems.
Assignment 10 Answers
Assignment 11 Answers


Wednesday, 3/6/19.
Today we talked about logarithms and how they can used to find time for something to decay to a certain amount, especially Half-Life.
Please read pages 57 to 64 of the Updated Notes on geometric sequences and exponential functions.
Assignments 10 and 11 are due wednesday, but can also be turned in during class on friday.
We will go over them in class in friday.

Tuesday, 3/5/19.
Assignment 11, due tomorrow (wednesday.)
Both assignments 10 and 11 are due tomorrow but can also be turned in during class on friday.

Monday, 3/4/19.
Today we talked about logarithms and how they can used to find time for something to grow a certain amount.
Please read pages 45to 56 of the Updated Notes on geometric sequences and exponential functions.
I will post an assignment (11) tomorrow.
Assignments 10 and 11 are due wednesday, but can also be turned in during class on friday.

Friday, 3/1/19.
Assignment 10, due next wednesday.


Wednesday, 2-27-19
Today we talked about how to add numbers in a geometric sequences and applications to finance.
Please read pages 35 to 44 of the Updated Notes on geometric sequences and exponential functions.
I will post an assignment tomorrow.

Tuesday, 2-26-19
SOLUTIONS TO TEST I -version 1
SOLUTIONS TO TEST I -version 2
TEST I -version 1 problems
TEST I -version 2-probems

TEST I ON MONDAY, FEB 25 ; REVIEW IN CLASS FRIDAY, FEB 22
PLEASE READ CLASS NOTES, ASSIGNMENTS AND REVIEW PROBLEMS.
They will help you prepare for tests.
NO CALCULATORS IN TEST! WILL GIVE SMALL NUMBERS OR LET YOU LEAVE AS POWERS.
The problems in test will be similar to those in the ASSIGNMENTS AND THESE REVIEW PROBLEMS
SOLUTIONS TO REVIEW PROBLEMS

Friday, 2/22/19.
I have uploaded solutions to review problems. See above.
Assignment 9 Answers


Wednesday, 2/20.
Due to school closure we will have review on friday and test next monday Feb 25.
I will be in office tomorrow(thursday) and friday 2 to 5pm.


Friday, 2/15/19.
Please read pages 26 to 35 (skip 30) of the Notes on geometric sequences and exponential functions.
Then do the Assignment 9 and bring it to me in wednesday's class.

Assignment 8 Answers
Assignment 7 Answers


Wednesday, 2/13/19.
Here are the slides from Dr. Schwartzman's talk today on climate change solutions and renewable energy.
It is posted here FYI, we will mainly use the math portion of the talk.
Please do the Assignment 8 and bring it to me in Friday's class along with Assignment 7.

We will also go over both ssignments 7 and 8 on friday.

Monday, 2/11/19.
Here are the UPDATED Notes for today (pages 17-25), on exponential functions.
Then do the Assignment 7 and bring it to me in Wednesday's class.
PLEASE TRY THE ASSIGNMENTS AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE BEFORE COMING TO CLASS.
IT IS VERY IMPORTANT YOU TRY THEM AND UNDERSTAND THEM AS THAT WILL HELP YOU DO WELL IN TEST.

Answers for assignment 5.

Answers for assignment 6.


Friday, 2/8/19.
We watched this video about growth of human population and this video about our impact on the environment today.
Here are the UPDATED Notes for today (PAGES 12 to 16), on geometric sequences and exponential functions.
Then do the Assignment 6 and bring it to me in Monday's class.

That is your last chance to submit. If you can't complete I will help you complete it in class.
NO LATE ASSIGNMENTS will be accepted.
Assignments have to be written with step by step explanations for the answers.


Wednesday, 2/6/19.
Here are the Notes for today, on geometric sequences.
We discussed upto page 11. Rest of it we will discuss on friday.
Then do the Assignment 5 and bring it to me in Friday's class.

That is your last chance to submit. If you can't complete I will help you complete it in class.
From now on NO LATE ASSIGNMENTS will be accepted.
Assignments have to be written with step by step explanations for the answers.

Answers for assignment 3.

Answers for assignment 4.


Monday, 2/4/19.
We watched this movie on concentrated solar power using mirrors forming a parabolic dish system today.
Here are the Notes for today, on quadratic functions and Parabolas.
Then do the Assignment 4 and bring it to me in Wednesday's class.

That is your last chance to submit. If you can't complete I will help you complete it in class.
NO LATE ASSIGNMENTS will be accepted.
Assignments have to be written with step by step explanations for the answers.



Friday, 2/1/19.
We watched bits of this movie on electric cars today.
Here are the Notes for today, on sums of arithmetic sequences.
Then do the Assignment 3 and bring it to me in Monday's class.

That is your last chance to submit. If you can't complete I will help you complete it in class.
From now on NO LATE ASSIGNMENTS will be accepted.
Assignments have to be written with step by step explanations for the answers.

Answers for assignment 2.


Wednesday, 1/30/19.
We went over the rest of the notes (formula for arithmetic sequence that is like a piecewise linear function). See notes below.
We also went over Assignment 1. Here are the Answers.
Friday we will do parabola and quadratic functions.
Friday's class will help you do the next assignment.

I will post answers for assignment 2 on friday.


Monday, 1/28/19.
We watched this video on Wangari mathai and Green Belt movement today.
Here are the Updated notes for today, on linear functions and arithmetic sequences.
Then do the Assignment 2 and bring it to me in wednesday's class.

That is your last chance to submit. If you can't complete I will let you complete it in class.


Friday, 1/25/19.
Here are the Updated notes for today, on linear functions and graphs.
It will help you with the assignment also.
Please bring assignment to monday's class. That is your last chance to submit.
We will talk about arithmetic sequences on monday.


Wednesday, 1/23/19.
Here are the notes for today, on linear functions and graphs.
Please read them and try to answer the questions in it.
It will help you with the assignment also.
Please try to bring assignment on friday but if it is not finished you can bring it in monday's class.
Here is an an old video I made about using Excel that will help you with the notes.


Sunday, 1/20/19.
Please read the class notes from last week, an intro to climate change (You may need to play it as slide show to see the animations).
Then do the Assignment 1 and bring it to me in friday's class.


SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL FOR 1/14 CLASS (FIRST MEETING)
WHAT IS CLIMATE CHANGE? VIDEO: climate change 101
WEATHER VS CLIMATE
THE ECONOMIC INJUSTICE OF PLASTIC