49 - The Earth Math Projects

Summary

Since 1991, with support from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the U.S. Department of Education's Fund for Improvement of Secondary Education (FIPSE), the authors have developed unique materials for use in mathematics courses ranging from algebra through calculus. These projects have resulted in three books, Earth Algebra (college algebra) [1], Earth Angles (precalculus) [2], and Earth Studies (applied calculus) [3], that all have applications to environmental issues that affect students' lives. They are designed to generate more interest in the use of mathematics as a tool to analyze real situations. Using mathematics to study real problems that are interesting to students has been shown to improve interest in, and understanding and appreciation of the role of mathematics in science and society. Formal evaluations have been conducted by Dr. Pamela Drummond [4] and are on file with FIPSE and NSF.

The authors are currently funded by NSF (grant #9952568) and FIPSE (grant #P116B001780) for a new curriculum development project that is an extension of the work described above. The goal is to produce versatile, technology-intensive materials for classroom use and teacher training. Reform-based applications are incorporated into platform-independent software to make them accessible to anyone with a computer. Environmental applications from the previous projects are being redesigned to be used in courses from algebra through calculus independent of the course textbook. The project features an inquirybased format, web-based interactive materials, seamless interface with state-of-the-art technology, use of real data, and interesting applications of mathematical concepts.