Freshman Colloquium: Natural Patterns
UNVR 195 A - Fall 2000

Instructor: Dr. Joceline Lega

Office: Mathematics 511

Phone: 621-4350

e-mail: lega@math.arizona.edu

Location:

M LNG 303

Time:

Wednesdays 3:00 - 3:50 pm

Office Hours:

Tuesdays 9:00 - 9:50 am

Thursdays 2:00 - 2:50 pm

Fridays 2:00 - 2:50 pm

or by appointment.

Text: The Self-made Tapestry: Pattern formation in nature, by Philip Ball, published by Oxford University Press.

Course Contents:

Student reports: Students will work in teams on a project of their choice. There will be two written and one oral team reports, worth 100 points each.

Teams

Team
Number Team members

1 Leanne
Cairns Coral
Fahringer Jeff
Fulks Danielle
True Todd
Voll

2 Esther
Cardona Marisa
Gahran Jesse
Morris Cristina
Trujillo -----

3 Amy
Bond ----- Armand
Navabi Rebecca
Pitts Natalie
Solarez

4 Stephen
Barta David
Gosselin ----- Katie
Ohsann James
Provencio

Assignments:

August 30:
- Go through the first lecture (see "course contents" above).
- Get in touch with the people in your team and choose a topic for your project. Each team will have to let me know what topic they will be reporting on.
September 6:
- Think about the various ways of tiling the plane. Can you find a clear explanation of why the only regular polygons that tile the plane are triangles, squares and hexagons ?
- Explore the Geometry Center web site
September 20:
- Turn in your first team report. It should be approximately 1 or 2 pages in length, preferably in Word format. It should mention at least 5 distinct web sites. This paper should contain:
  - A summary, which describes your team's topic and where it arises in mathematics or in nature,
  - A discussion, which compares and contrasts what the different web sites have to say or offer concerning your topic.
  This will be more than just an exercise. Your final reports will appear on line: you will be helping us to build a web site that reflects your interest, and which should be useful to other students.
- What makes a good student report ?
  - Good sources
    - Informative: not just pictures; not just a superficial listing of terminology; the important concepts and terms should be clearly defined and illustrated.
    - Diverse: they should exhibit diverse points of view, if possible.
  - A critical analysis
    - Do not just quote or believe everything that you read.
    - If you feel that a certain line of reasoning is correct, try to explain why in your own words. If not, say why not.
    - If your sources are diverse, you will be able to compare and contrast them and arrive at a better assessment of what is true.
  - A good organization
    Your report should be well organized and written in proper English.
  - Originality
    You should strive to bring ideas together in a way which will challenge the reader.
Attendance: Students are expected to attend every scheduled class, and to be familiar with the University Class Attendance policy as it appears in the General Catalog. It is the student's responsability to keep informed of any announcements, syllabus adjustments or policy changes made during scheduled classes.
Grades: There will be 3 student reports each worth 100 points. There will also be a grade based on 100 points assigned for class participation. Grades will be no lower than those set forth in the following table:

360 < points 90% to 100% A

320 < points < 359 80% to 90% B

280 < points < 319 70% to 80% C

240 < points < 279 60% to 70% D

points < 239 0% to 60% E

The grade of I will be awarded if all the following conditions are met:
- The student has completed all but a small portion of the required work.
- The student has scored at least 50% on the work completed.
- The student has a valid reason for not completing the course on time.
- The student agrees to make up the material in a short period of time.
- The student asks for the incomplete before grades are due, 48 hours after the final exam.

Course Line-up:

Date	Class Activity	Date	Class Activity
August 23	Overview	September 13	Tilings
August 30	Tilings	September 20	Defects & Waves
September 6	Computer Lab	September 27	Bioconvection: a lecture by Prof. John Kessler

October 4	Waves	October 25	Geomorphology (Lab visit) by Prof. Jon Pelletier
October 11	Modeling pattern formation	November 1	Sand ripples and physics (Lab visit) by Profs. Ray Goldstein and Juan Restrepo
October 18	Chaos, Fractals and Dynamics a videotape by Prof. Robert Devaney, Boston University	November 8	Modeling Sea Shells

November 15	Wrap-up & Preparation of team reports	November 29	Preparation of team reports
November 22	Applied Math laboratory (Lab visit) by Prof. Michael Tabor	December 6	Team reports

Back to Dr. Lega's page

Team Number	Team members
1	Leanne Cairns	Coral Fahringer	Jeff Fulks	Danielle True	Todd Voll
2	Esther Cardona	Marisa Gahran	Jesse Morris	Cristina Trujillo	-----
3	Amy Bond	-----	Armand Navabi	Rebecca Pitts	Natalie Solarez
4	Stephen Barta	David Gosselin	-----	Katie Ohsann	James Provencio

360 < points	90% to 100%	A
320 < points < 359	80% to 90%	B
280 < points < 319	70% to 80%	C
240 < points < 279	60% to 70%	D
points < 239	0% to 60%	E

Freshman Colloquium: Natural Patterns UNVR 195 A - Fall 2000

Teams

Freshman Colloquium: Natural Patterns
UNVR 195 A - Fall 2000