Main presenter
Co-presenter(s)
Name :
Prof Carl Leinbach
Name:
E-mail:
leinbach@gettysburg.edu
E-mail:
Institution or
Company:
Gettysburg College
Name:
Department:
Mathematics & Computer Science
E-mail:
City:
Gettysburg
Name:
State/Province:
PA
E-mail:
Country:
USA
Name:
Type of
presentation:
Lecture : 50 minutes.
E-mail:
Conference
strand and number:
Derive & TI-CAS ,
Number:
D19
Schedule:
Room:
Thursday, 14h00
1350
Related website:
Title of
presentation:
Are They Being Served? Using a CAS for Teaching a First Year Mathematics for Biologists Course
Abstract:
Many times when we design a mathematics for biologists course for our client departments, Mathematics Departments select the mathematical topics and then search for applications to illustrate their usefulness. This stands the process on its head, We need to understand the the content of the client discipline and and the mathematical problems that it presents and then design our course. This is especially true of Biology, whose use of mathematics and computing has undergone a great metamorphisis in recent years. Biologists are interested in growth, migration, evolution, and change. These are terms apprapo of the derivative. They are interested in frequency, probabilities, commonality, and, best fit. These are are tools from Probabilit & Statistics. More recently they are interested in sequencing DNA and Protein strings, and pattern matching. These are tools from finite mathematics as well as Computer Science. In this presentation I will present some Derive tools for addressing problems from Biology. I will also discuss the mathematics and mathematical facts that the Biology students need to know in order to use their CAS in an intelligent way when solving problems and to interpret their results. I will look at the Hardy-Weinberg Equations from genetics and evolution. I will examine the role that the CAS can play in perfoming an analysis of the results. I will also look at a strategy for DNA sequence matching and determining a best match for a sequence.