Here, we present an interdisciplinary educational project intended for high school chemistry that is focused on the establishment of a mathematical model to describe the relationship between conductivity and concentration, while linking chemistry to mathematics with the help of computer software. The project was designed to help high school…

Investigates issues of mathematics instruction of problems in blocks. Discusses the best way to construct mathematical problems with connections to one another as parts of a coherent whole and how to reflect on the types of connections that can arise between them. (Author/KHR)

Summarizes an interdisciplinary undergraduate research project involving experimental physics and calculus and illustrates how mathematics was used to finesse incomplete experimental information and maximize physical quantity known as jerk. Describes how calculus can be applied in the "real world" where functions are not always given by nice…

Presents a typical cost-allocation problem with possible solutions, including geometric and combinatoric ones. Provides students with a real-life application of the mathematics that they know. (KHR)

Describes the process of mathematical modeling, an extensive teacher's guide, and a student modeling activity to improve the efficiency of soft-drink packaging. (KHR)

Presents a lesson designed to give teachers the know-how to offer secondary school students opportunities to model real-world phenomena through a variety of functions and construct and draw inferences from tables and graphs summarizing data from these situations. Investigates the roller-coaster questions in a graduate class on methods of teaching…

Describes two activities to analyze unit-cell structures from a geometric viewpoint and invites students to apply their mathematical understanding to scientific phenomena. Students form models of the simple cube, a building block of crystalline structures, and a methane molecule. (MKR)

Describes a simulation using dice-tossing students in a population cluster to model the growth of cancer cells. This growth is recorded in a scatterplot and compared to an exponential function graph. (KHR)

Describes a rugby problem designed to help students understand the maximum-minimum situation. Presents a series of explorations that locate an optimal place for kicking the ball to maximize the angle at the goalposts. Uses interactive geometry software to construct a model of the situation. Includes a sample student activity. (KHR)

Suggests ways in which mathematical models can be presented and developed in the classroom to promote discussion, analysis, and understanding of issues related to energy consumption. Five problems deal with past trends and future projections of availability of a nonrenewable resource, natural gas. (Contains 13 references.) (MDH)

Discusses how applications from microbiology and sociology can be used to involve students. Presents a physical context for critical concepts in a first-semester calculus course. (Author/ASK)

Explains that primitive living structures furnish real-world problems that are solvable using mathematics and computer-modeling techniques. (KHR)

Describes an activity in which students use data analysis and mathematical modeling to obtain insight into a geometrical question. Explores a simple case of the isoperimetric inequalities. (KHR)

Presents a project used to help students make connections between linear and exponential models and between arithmetic and geometric sequences. (KHR)

Describes the use of oceanographers' models for introducing students to the concept of mathematical modeling. Outlines a lesson showing the interrelationship of science and mathematics. (RT)