Math 136 (02xx) – Joel M Cohen (Fall, 2019)
Calculus for Life Sciences    


This WEB page is http://www2.math.umd.edu/~jcohen/136/, also found at jcohen.me clicking on 136.  It was last updated: 11-29-19.

 

Lectures:     11:00-12:15 T-Th

    Recitations:  9:00 (0111), 10:00 (0121),

    1:00 (0131), 2:00 (0141) M-W

Room:        ARM 0135

    Rooms: MTH 0306 (0211), 0302 (0231), 0102 (0241),

    0407 (0251)

Instructor:   Joel M. Cohen


      Office: MTH 2313       Office Phone: (301)405-5109

     Office Hours: T-Th 10:00-10:45 or by appointment 

Biology TA's (Wednesdays):
Yashas Lokesh
Email:yashloke@terpmail.umd.edu
Office hours:
Mon. 2-3, Tue. 3:30-4:30
Office: MTH0104

Kriti Pradham
Email: kpradhan37@yahoo.com

Office Hours:  12 - 2, Fridays
Office: MTH0104

    Math TA (Mondays): Kayla Davie
   
Email:
kdavie@math.umd.edu

    Office Hours: Mon. 11:30-12:30, Tue. 12:30-1:30
    Office: MTH
4312


Description: Basic ideas of differential and integral calculus, with emphasis on models and techniques relevant to the life sciences.

Prerequisites: A grade of C- or better in  MATH 115; or permission of department based on 3½ years of college preparatory mathematics (including trigonometry) and satisfactory performance on the Mathematics Placement Exam. Credit will only be granted to one of Math 120, Math 130, Math 136, or Math 140.

Topics:

Limits and Continuity

Limits of functions

Continuous functions

Derivatives and their Applications

Derivatives and their interpretation as rates of change

Derivatives of functions

Computing derivatives

Implicit differentiation and related rates

Applications of derivatives

Integration and Applications

Estimating the area under a curve and the horizontal axis

Antiderivatives and Fundamental Theorem of Calculus

Methods of integration

Applications of integration



An Introduction to Differential Equations

Separation of Variables

Equilibria and Limited Population Growth


Learning Outcomes: After completing this course, students should be able to demonstrate:

1. An understanding of basic differential and integral calculus concepts and their applications to life sciences including: limit, continuity, differentiation, and integration.

2. A mathematical understanding of biological data, including data collection, visualization/display, and analysis.

3. An understanding of continuous mathematical models of biological systems.



This course is an introduction to calculus for students in the life sciences. Applications of calculus to these disciplines form an important part of the study of life sciences. Concrete calculations are emphasized and provide an opportunity to practice algebraic skills introduced in earlier courses.

Text:  

Mathematics for the Life Sciences, Bodine, Lenhart, and Gross.  Princeton University Press, 2014.

ISBN 9780691150727


 Canvas:

You may use your Canvas account to check your grades. 
Warning
: Canvas is unreliable in computing averages.

Calculators:
 

No calculators of any kind will be allowed during exams. It may be useful

to have an arithmetical calculator for the Wednesday biology projects.

 


Order of Topics:
 

Chapter

Topic

Number of Lectures

15, 16

Limits

3

17, 18

Derivatives

3

19, 20

Computing and Applying Derivatives

5

26

Implicit Differentiation

2

21-23

Integration

5

25
 Probability  2
27
 Differential Equations
 4

Review periods and Exams

5

 


Total Lectures:  29

 

Exams:

Oct 3 (Thurs) and Nov 7 (Thurs)

 

Final Exam: Dec. 11 (Wednesday), 1:30 - 3:30 p.m.  Final exam rooms: BRB1101


Resources
:


Testbank archives of past exams: Since this is a fairly new course, the only archived test is last Spring's final.


Math Success Program walk-in tutoring

Math Learning Assistance

Mathematics Department walk-in tutoring schedule – Tutors of Math 140 and 220 may be able to spend some time with you, once they deal with students in their courses. However, your prime source for Math Dept. help will be the TA office hours listed above.

Learning Assistance Service

Office of Multi-Cultural Student Education (OMSE)


The undergraduate office (the big window in math building rotunda) has a list of private tutors.

 

You should bring your university picture I.D. to all exams. Makeup exams may be given for an excused absence, that is only for valid medical reasons, University business, appearances in court, or death (upon presentation of your obituary).  Make-up quizzes will not be given.  Any unexcused absences on quizzes, projects, or exams will be counted as 0, including the final exam.  Any student with a valid reason to be excused from an exam should contact me prior to the exam, either by email or by phone, and present documentation at the next class session attended.  


If you need to be excused for a religious observance, you should let me know as soon as possible, but in any case no later than the end of the schedule adjustment period.   If you have a documented disability and wish to discuss academic accommodations with me, please contact me as soon as possible.
Please check your final exam schedule. If there is a potential conflict, contact me during the schedule adjustment period so we can discuss the situation.


E-MAIL: Students will get email throughout the semester. Email is sent by a course reflector to email addresses officially registered with the University, and students are responsible for maintaining a correct address. If your official email address is not correct, then click here to update it.

Quizzes:    Student participation in the recitation classes on Wednesday and Friday is an important part of the course. A short math quiz will be given during the Wednesday recitation, and a biology project will be done in groups during the Friday class.  Makeup quizzes or projects may be given only when you have a legitimate reason for being absent. (Here "legitimate" is interpreted more liberally than for exams. Present your evidence to your recitation instructor, as soon as possible after a missed quiz or project.) At the end of the semester, the total of the quiz scores will be converted to a 100-point basis. A quiz grade and as project grade will be dropped.


Academic Dishonesty

Please consult the following website regarding university policy on academic dishonesty: http://www.shc.umd.edu/code.html.  You should be familiar with the University's policies on Academic Integrity, including the Honor Pledge. 

Quiz and exam questions will be similar if not identical to homework questions.  Any changes in the syllabus will be announced in class and posted to the website. Extra help is available during office hours and in the tutoring room, MTH 0301.




General InformationI am not assigning homework problems to be turned in, but it will be useful to try the problems following each section. There will be a quiz each Monday based on problems in the previous week's sections.  It is probably a good idea to read the chapter the night before the lecture to get an idea of what you want to be looking for in class.  It might also be useful to try some of the problems in advance.  When, after doing several problems, you have understood the methods, feel free to simply read the rest and if you can see how they are done don't bother writing them down. 

Tentative Schedule of Lectures


Day

Date

Section

Tues

August    27                  

15.1

Thurs

                 29

15.2, 16.1

Tues

September 3

16.2, 16.3

Thurs

                  5

17.1~17.5

Tues

                 10

17.6, 18.1 ~ 18.5

Thurs

                 12

19.1, 19.2, 18.6

Tues

                 17

19.3~19.5

Thurs

                 19

28.1

Tues

                 24

28.2

Thurs

                 26

28.3

Tues

October   1

Review

Thurs

                  3

Exam I

Tues

                  8

20.1, 20.2

Thurs

                10

20.4

Tues

                15

20.5

Thurs

                18

21.1~21.3

Tues

                22

22.1~22.4

Thurs

                24

22.5


Tues

                29

23.1~23.2

Thurs

                31

23.2

Tues

November 5 

Review

Thurs

                   7

Exam II

Tues

                 12

25.1~2.5.2


Thurs

                 14

25.3

Tues

                 19

26.1, 27.1

Thurs

                 21

27.2, 28.1~28.2

Tues

                  26

27.3

Tues

December  3

No Class

Thurs

                    5

Test Review


Tues

                  10

Study Period*


Wed

                  11

Final 1:30-3:30 BRB1101





*On December 10, I will have office hours (Math 2313), but whoever wants to may go to ARM 0135 and go over problems together.







Grading:    The final grade will be based on 700 points: Midterm Exams (200 for higher grade +100 for lower), Math Quizzes (best 8 at 12.5 points each), Biology Projects (best 8 at 12.5 points each), and Final Exam (200).
 
 This Math 130 WEBPAGE  will be kept up-to-date.

You are responsible for checking updates of this page.

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