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Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons™
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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Raising Student Awareness Of Environmental Issues Via Writing Assignments With Differential Equations, Michelle L. Ghrist
Raising Student Awareness Of Environmental Issues Via Writing Assignments With Differential Equations, Michelle L. Ghrist
CODEE Journal
In this paper, I discuss two environmentally-focused writing assignments that I developed and implemented in recent integral calculus and differential equations courses. These models of carbon storage and PCB’s in a river provide interesting applications of one-compartment mixing problems. The assignments were intended to focus student attention on sustainability concerns while also developing other essential skills. I discuss these assignments and their effect on my students’ technical writing and environmental awareness. Detailed introductory instructions and mostly complete solutions to these assignments appear in the appendices, to include sample student work.
Solar Panels, Euler’S Method And Community-Based Projects: Connecting Differential Equations With Climate Change, Victor J. Donnay
Solar Panels, Euler’S Method And Community-Based Projects: Connecting Differential Equations With Climate Change, Victor J. Donnay
CODEE Journal
How does mathematics connect with the search for solutions to the climate emergency? One simple connection, which can be explored in an introductory differential equations course, can be found by analyzing the energy generated by solar panels or wind turbines. The power generated by these devices is typically recorded at standard time intervals producing a data set which gives a discrete approximation to the power function $P(t)$. Using numerical techniques such as Euler’s method, one can determine the energy generated. Here we describe how we introduce the topic of solar power, apply Euler’s method to determine the energy generated, and …