Math 121- BioCalculus

2017-09-12
Lecture 1

Instructor: Felicia Magpantay

Office: Jeffery Hall 410
Office hours: Mondays 1-4pm
Email: m121west@queensu.ca

*Mondays 5:30-6:30, starts Monday 18th at Jeffery 201- extra 1% on grade per semester (must
attend every week)
*Tutorials don’t start until week 4
Math Help Centre - There is a general math help center in Jeffery Hall 201 that is staffed 5 days
a week

Required materials:
WebAssign: buy from bookstore, must enter student ID number *You can access this through
the link under the Content tab. 
Textbook: Biocalculus, Calculus for the Life Sciences. 1 st ed. (Stewart & Day)
REEF Polling system and iClicker *go onto course syllabus to create account

Weekly activities:
There are 12 sets of activities per term (1 set per week) and these can be accessed under
the Weekly Activities Section of the Content tab. Each set of weekly activities consists of the
following:

 Every Tuesday a new homework assignment will be posted that will be due the

upcoming Sunday (by 11:59pm). This must be completed on WebAssign. You are
allowed 3 attempts at each question on a homework assignment. All homework
assignments over the entire course will make up 10% of the 15% allotted to this portion
of your grade. 
 Every Tuesday I will also post a series of self-study "Tasks" for you to complete in order
to prepare for the coming week's classes. Typically, these are short videos to watch or
occasionally a small amount of reading. To ensure you get the most out of this self-
study material you are required to complete these tasks, as well as a short Pre-Lecture
Quiz (you are allowed unlimited attempts at the Quiz until Sunday 11:59pm).  All this
must be completed on WebAssign. Pre-Lecture Quizzes over the entire course will make
up 3% of the 15% allotted to this portion of your grade. 
 You should come to your assigned peer-instruction session (Wednesday or Thursday)
prepared to participate using the REEF Polling system and working with other students.
All of your REEF Polling participation during the entire course will make up 2% of the
15% allotted to this portion of your grade.
  Throughout the week you should also be working on the homework assignment.
WebAssign allows you to save your work and come back later until the assignment is
completed. I will have office hours on Mondays 1-4pm for students who require help. 
Tutorials:
There are 5 tutorials per term. They run every other week beginning in Week 4 (the week of
Oct. 2, 2017). Prior to each tutorial you will be asked to watch a short video and/or read some
material. Then, during the tutorial, you will work in groups of 4-5 students to answer a series of
questions from a tutorial assignment. You will have two weeks to complete the assignment.
Single assignment will be handed in for your group and it will be marked based on completion.
Each student will also be marked individually on attendance at tutorials.
Oct 2-4
Oct 16-18
Oct30-Nov 1
Nov 13-15
Nov 27-29

Core Material Testing:

Every 3 weeks, beginning in the fourth week of classes, students will write a 50-minute test on
the material from the previous weeks. This test is scheduled from 5:30-6:20pm on Sep 28, Oct
25, Nov 16, Jan 25, Feb 15, Mar 15. Note that all dates are on Thursdays except for Oct 25
which is a Wednesday. More information can be found under the Core Material Testing Section
of the Content tab.  

 Each term we will calculate your grade on this component using your best 2 out of the 3
tests.
 In a given term, if the Exam mark in the term is higher than any Core Material Test mark,
then the test mark will be replaced with the exam mark from that term. (This applies to
all tests with grades lower than the exam grade, not just the lowest.)
 Missed tests (with appropriate notification) will not be re-taken. Your mark will be based
on the remaining 2 tests from that term. If more than 1 test must be missed, then the
weight for the additional missed test will be added to the exam for the current
term. Missed tests without a reason/notification will be given a grade of zero
(regardless of exam performance).

Exams:
There are two exams in the course. The first is held in December and covers all of the material
from the first term. The second is held in April and focuses on material from the second term.
Each is worth 30% of the 60% allotted to this portion of your grade. 

Calculus:
 Method of exhaustion (Eudoxus, Archimedes, Liu)
  Modern form developed in 17th century Europe by Isaac. Newton and Gottfried
Wilhelm Leibniz.
 Calculus is “the mathematical study of change.”
 Geometry = study of shapes, Algebra = study of operations
 Two major branches: differential calculus and integral calculus

Vaccination:
 A vaccine is a biological preparation designed to elicit immunity from a disease without
causing the disease. An example of a vaccination that has dramatically reduced the
number of deaths is Measles.
 Good vaccines can protect you and the people around you from the disease via “heard
immunity”.

Imperfect Vaccines: Lowers your risk but doesn’t prevent it

Perfect Vaccines: Protects all strains

To do:
Read course syllabus
Finish notes