2 weeks and counting...

Just two weeks now before the Final Exams. Classes are down to their last three class meetings!

Below are the latest assignments:

MTH1010 Section M1: p. 447-451: #6-10; 45-52.
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MTH0100 Section A1: p. 310-311: #5-12; 21-26; 37-42.
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MTH1010 Section E1: p. 410: #31-37.
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MTH0100 Section M2: p. 325-326: #53-56; p. 332: #55-56.
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MTH1010 Section A2: p. 457: #1-12

Updated Math Course Assignments

MTH1010 Section M1: p. 438: #25-36. EXAM #4 is Monday -- 34 Questions, ranging from solving algebraic equations containing fractions through decimals and operations on decimals, including Grade Point Average, Mean, Median and Mode, ratios, proportions, solving proportion word problems.
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MTH0100 Section A1: p. 472: #70-82.
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MTH1010 Section E1: p. 381: #27-35; p. 386-387: #5-8; 15-18; p. 409: #1-8.
EXAM #4 is Monday -- 30 Questions on mixed numbers, solving algebraic equations containing fractions, comparing decimals, rounding decimals, adding/subtracting/multiplying decimals, circumference of a circle.
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MTH0100 Section M2: p. 310-312: #5-12; 21-26; 37-42. p. 324-325: #27-35; 45-46; 51-52. KUDOS TO SECTION M2 -- we covered two days of material in one class session!!! Way to go, guys!! All of you did well today...and you were mastering the material!
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MTH1010 Section A2: p. 438: #25-36; p. 447-448: #6-10. EXAM #4 is next Tuesday -- 31 Questions from all of Chapter 5 and the first section of Chapter 6, up through ratios and proportions, including solving proportion problems.
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The Final Countdown...

We are rapidly winding down the quarter. Only 5 class meetings left for the various math courses at VC. I have listed the various assignments for my math classes:

MTH1010 Section M1: p. 409-411: #1-8; 23-34; 39-43.
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MTH0100 Section A1: p. 459: #55-63; p. 470: #17-28.
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MTH1010 Section E1: p. 367: #1-20 (omit #7, 8, 15, 16)
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MTH0100 Section M2: p. 297-298: #45-52; 65-72
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MTH1010 Section A2: p. 411: #39-43.

Updated course assignments as of 8/18/10

MTH1010 Section M1: p. 381: #27-35; p. 386-387: #5-8; 15-18.
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MTH0100 Section A1: p. 458: #7-26. Test #3 is next Wednesday. We will review for the test at the end of the class period next week.
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MTH1010 Section E1: p. 305: #43-62.
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MTH0100 Section M2: p. 472: #70-82; p. 297: #5-12; 25-32.
TEST #3 is Tuesday, August 24. 31 Questions on Ratios, Proportions, Measurement Conversions within the English and Metric Systems and
Adding and Subtracting Units in the English System.
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MTH1010 Section A2: p. 409-410: #1-8; 31-37
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For MTH1010 students:

I was extremely impressed with how the research papers are coming along for those that
did what I asked and brought their materials to class. A number of you are well on your way to producing an interesting read and meeting the project requirements as listed in the project description and the scoring rubric.

About the presentations: some students are a bit unclear about the presentations. Regardless
of whether you are asked to stand up and present, you are STILL expected to produce
at least a Power Point presentation or some kind of visual (trifold; posterboard) that can be handed in to accompany your paper. ONE POWER POINT SLIDE WILL SUFFICE!!! It does not have to be anything flashy or elegant; just something that highlights the main points of your paper.

I do not know how much actual presenting will take place since our courses are so far behind. If you ARE asked to present, limit it to a minute or two. You won't be expected to give a 20-minute soliloquy! We just don't have time for that and none of your classmates want to hear you talk for 20 minutes.

Just six class sessions left now before the Final Exam for my Monday/Wednesday classes; 7 for the Tuesday/Thursday group. HANG IN THERE, DIG DEEP AND GIVE IT YOUR ALL THESE LAST THREE WEEKS!

A Lady Named Camille -- 41 years later

Latest homework assignments for my math classes:

MTH1010 Section M1: NO HOMEWORK. BRING WHATEVER WORK YOU HAVE DONE ON RESEARCH PAPERS TO CLASS AS A DAILY GRADED TASK.
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MTH0100 Section A1: p. 279: #68-73; 76. (We worked #70 in class).
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MTH1010 Section E1: p. 293: #43-62. BRING WHATEVER WORK YOU HAVE DONE ON RESEARCH PAPERS TO CLASS AS A DAILY GRADED TASK.
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MTH0100 Section M2: p. 470: #17-28
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MTH1010 Section A2: p. 377: #27-30; p. 387: #15-18.
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I also want to take a moment to make mention of Hurricane Camille, one of the most severe and devastating hurricanes to ever make landfall on the U.S. Coast. On the night of August 17, 1969, Camille slammed ashore at Pass Christian, Mississippi as a Category 5 storm.

My life-long love of weather was given a boost by a NOAA film, A Lady Named Camille, which our third-grade science class was treated to back in 1974. It was the first time I saw a satellite film loop of a hurricane and I was hooked! At the time, my family lived in Virginia and the remnants of Camille produced widespread flooding that I was too young to remember at the time. Nearly 400 people died in the U.S. due to Camille. The Richelieu apartment building in Pass Christian became the poster child as to why one should NEVER throw a hurricane party during a landfalling storm -- only one person, Mary Ann Gerbach, survived when she floated out of the collapsing building on a matress. Some dispute this claim, however, but Ms. Gerbach continues to tell her story.

I have never been to Mississippi OR Louisiana but from reports, damage leftover from Camille's landfall remains to this day. I remember seeing pictures of tugboats and tankers pushed far inland on Camille's 22-foot storm surge. One of the more bizarre images was that of the boat below, that sat off Highway 90 for nearly 30 years after the storm made landfall. Other marine vessels resided in yards and across homes for months afterwards.


The name "Camille" almost didn't happen for the hallmark storm of the 1969 season. Back in those days, the names were determined by staff at the National Hurricane Center in Coral Gables. For the 1969 year, John Hope, who did tropical weather duties for many, many years at The Weather Channel before his death, mentioned that his daughter was named Camille and that is how the name made it on to the tropical cyclone list for that year.

Still...the storm came perilously close to being named "Debbie", the next name on the list. In the post-analysis for the 1969 season, it was determined that there was an un-named tropical system that was not detected at the time...but it COULD have been given the Camille designation if it HAD been detected, which meant that the hurricane we all know as Camille could have been named Debbie.

A Lady Named Camille documented the landfall and after-effects of this great hurricane. With a central pressure of 905 mb and winds estimated to be spinning around the center at nearly 200 mph, Camille was, at one time, the second most-intense hurricane on record in the Atlantic basin (it now ranks 7th on the list) and still ranks as the second-most intense tropical cyclone to ever make landfall on the U.S. coast. Only the 1935 Labor Day hurricane was stronger at time of landfall. It sure made an impression on me.

If your curiosity is piqued, an internet web search will link you to several articles memorializing this great hurricane. If you have the time, you might find them educational -- and interesting.

The picture above of Camille spinning off the coast of Cuba and Florida is one of my favorite hurricane photos of all time. My former boss at the Weather Service, who was Deputy MIC of the Hurricane Center at one time, had a the original picture in his files and I used to love looking at it. To me, Camille looks like a buzzsaw. Hurricanes are beautiful, but deadly, phenomena.

Uodated course assignments

MTH1010 Section M1: p. 305: #43-62.
EXAM #3 is Monday, August 16 -- 40 questions on fractions, up through operations on Mixed Numbers. NO CALCULATORS ALLOWED!!
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MTH0100 Section A1: p. 266-268: #7-13; 31-35; 53-56.
p. 277: #17-28.
Quiz on this material Monday, August 16.
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MTH1010 Section E1: EXAM #3 is Monday, August 16 -- 36 Questions on Problem Solving and fractions, up through adding and subtracting fractions. NO CALCULATORS ALLOWED.
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MTH0100 Section M2: p. 458-460: #7-26; 55-63; 74-80.
QUIZ on solving proportions, proportion problems, conversions between English System Units and adding/subtracting units on Tuesday, August 17.
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MTH1010 Section A2: p. 367: #1-20.
EXAM #3 is Tuesday, August 17 -- 38 Questions on fractions. NO CALCULATORS ALLOWED.

A great day for math...

Every once in a while, we have a day where the entire class is in a math groove. We had such a day in the math classes on Monday and were able to make up some ground toward where we should be on the syllabus. We are slowing down a bit in the Tuesday/Thursday classes, since they will have an extra class meeting. New homework assignments are given below:

MTH1010 Section M1: p. 266-267: #1-12; 55-64
p. 299: #49-62.
NEXT EXAM IS MONDAY, AUGUST 16. OVERVIEW OF
EXAM ON WEDNESDAY.
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MTH0100 Section A1: p. 237-240: #25-36
p. 247-250: #27-38; 44-53; 94.
ALGEBRA QUIZ ON WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 11
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MTH1010 Section E1: p. 242-244: #37-48
p. 255-256: #28-36
p. 266-267: #1-12; 55-64
FRACTION QUIZ ON WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 11. NEXT
EXAM WILL BE MONDAY, AUGUST 16. OVERVIEW OF
THE EXAM AT END OF CLASS WEDNESDAY
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MTH0100 Section M2: p. 277: #17-28 (re-assigned).
p. 279: #68-73; 76 (we worked #71 in class today).
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MTH1010 Section A2: p. 305: #43-62
SOLVING EQUATIONS WITH FRACTION QUIZ ON
THURSDAY...PER CLASS REQUEST!

NEXT EXAM IS NEXT TUESDAY. OVERVIEW OF THE
EXAM WILL BE GIVEN AT THE END OF CLASS ON THURSDAY.
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It's getting exciting. Only 8 class meetings left (9 for the Tuesday/Thursday classes)
before the Final Exam! Can ya feel it??

In other math news...

Did ya have an exciting day on Monday? Monday was a special day on the calendar; August 9, 2010 (otherwise known as 8/9/10) is the eighth in the series of 12 "sequence days" that occur on the Julian calendar. A "sequence day" is one in which the numerical codes for month, day and year are all consecutive. There will be only four more this century, following approximately every 13 months:

9/10/11
10/11/12
11/12/13
12/13/14.

After December 13, 2014, we will have to wait 89 years for such an occurrence to repeat...on January 2, 2103 (a/k/a 1/2/03).

But don't fret; there's still ample opportunity to have math fun with the current year. We will ALL be in class on October 10, 2010, when the date will be 10/10/10.

Almost makes ya feel like fertilizing your lawn, doesn't it?

Closing the gap...

Tuesday/Thursday classes continue to be ahead of the Monday/Wednesday classes (as it should be with one extra class meeting) but we have picked up the pace somewhat in the Monday/Wednesday classes. Listed below are the homework assignments, due next week:

MTH1010 Section M1: p. 242-244: #37-48; 88; 90; 94
p. 255-256: #28-36
FRACTION QUIZ ON MONDAY, AUGUST 9
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MTH0100 Section A1: p. 226-228: #7-8; 10; 19; 22-24; 33-38; 86
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MTH1010 Section E1: p. 215-219: #7-15; 60; 69; 72; 81; 88; 92
p. 230-232: #21; 26; 28; 30; 41; 49; 51-57; 68; 70; 72
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MTH0100 Section M2: p. 277: 17-28
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MTH1010: Section A2: p. 293: #49-62

Summer Quarter 2010 Course Update

The following are the latest homework assignments for my math classes:

MTH1010 Section M1 -- p. 215-219: #7-15; 60; 69; 72; 81; 88; 92
p. 230-232: #21; 26; 28; 30; 41; 49; 51-57; 68; 70; 72
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MTH0100 Section A1 -- p. 144-146: #5-20; 37-44; 57-60; 73-82; 102-109
MIDTERM EXAM IS WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 4
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MTH1010 Section E1 -- p. 191-194: Rework #27-35
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MTH0100 Section M2 -- p. 266-269: # 7-13; 31-35; 53-56; 88; 94
MIDTERM EXAM IS THURSDAY, AUGUST 5
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MTH1010 Section A2 -- p. 242-244: #37-48
p. 255-256: # 28-36
p. 266-267: # 1-12; 55-64
FRACTION QUIZ ON THURSDAY, AUGUST 5


NOTE TO STUDENTS IN MTH1010:

Research papers are due September 9. All students have been asked to turn in preliminary topics for the paper and are reminded that this is a MATHEMATICS class, so the grading emphasis will be on content rather than format. See the project description rubric for what I will be looking for regarding your paper.

Do not stress out a lot over this paper. Perhaps the following will set some of your minds at ease:

-- There should be an introductory paragraph, giving an overview of what will be
discussed in the paper. This introduction should mention at least two or three
different points of emphasis.
-- Include a paragraph devoted to each of the points of emphasis mentioned in
your introduction.
-- A concluding paragraph, summarizing what was in your paper.

Follow these basic guidelines and you should be good to go, easily able to fill at least three pages. DO NOT MAKE THIS PAPER A MAGNUM OPUS!! Remember, there is a 5-page limit.

I will be more than happy to look over any of your research or even read a preliminary rough draft, if you would like. Students should be actively researching and writing now; as the project description states, August 18 (for Sections M1 and E1) and August 19 (for Section A2) is the deadline for having your first version of the proposed research paper finished. Plan on bringing it with you to class on those dates, no matter how far you have gotten toward a completed document.

And smile!!! We are at the halfway point of the quarter already! It's all downhill from here!