| Date | Topics | Assignments | |
| Monday | 8/27 | Logistics and introductions. Figure out the rules to the Japanese pencil puzzle Hitori, and try to complete at least one Hitori puzzle. | Work on the Hitori puzzles. Get your copy of the card game SET from the bookstore. |
| Wednesday | 8/29 | Figure out the rules for the card game SET, and practice playing the game. | Practice playing SET, and start thinking about questions that the class could try to answer about the game. |
| Friday | 8/31 | Establish common notation, definitions, and rules for SET, and start generating a list of research questions about SET that the class might be able to answer. | Each person write down three questions about SET and bring this list to class on Wednesday. |
| Monday | 9/3 | (No class today - Laura will be out of town)
Note: By university deadline, tomorrow is the last day you can drop this class without getting a W. |
Work on the Hitori Puzzle of the Week to hand in at the start of class on Wednesday. |
| Wednesday | 9/5 | Consolidate questions from your group into a set of questions that explore objective/quantitative/existence questions about SET. | Each person make progress on a SET reesarch question, to report back to your group on Friday. |
| Friday | 9/7 | Continue working in groups to work on answering the questions you have formulated. Narrow/extend questions as needed. | Play the game and think about the questions you are
answering. Each person in your group should have part of a question to
think about over the weekend.
Work on the Ripple Effect Puzzle of the Week to hand in at the start of class on Wednesday. |
| Monday | 9/10 | Work in groups; have work verified to make sure that you are on the correct path. Tighten up arguments, discard whatever isn't working. | Each group must prepare a "short report" to present to
the rest of the class on Wednesday.
Attend the mathematics colloquium at 3:45 today (refreshments at 3:30) in Roop 103: Laura Taalman, James Madison University, Sudoku: Questions, Variations, and Research. Hand in a 1-page typed writeup about the colloquium at the start of Wednesday's class. |
| Wednesday | 9/12 | Each group presents a "short report" explaining their current progress on their research problems. Z3 mini-lecture and activities. | Each group member make individual progress on a portion of your research problem. |
| Friday | 9/14 | (No class today - Laura will be out of town) | Work on the Masyu Puzzle of the Week to hand in at the start of class on Wednesday. |
| Monday | 9/17 | Review Z3 properties and application to SET. Continue group work; hand in summary of results (and progress towards results) by end of class. | Email me with research questions and for confirmation of accuracy of
results.
Attend the mathematics colloquium at 3:45 today (refreshments at 3:30) in Roop 103: David Bernstien, James Madison University, Calculus for the Morning Commute. Hand in a 1-page typed writeup about the colloquium at the start of Wednesday's class. |
| Wednesday | 9/19 | Mini-lecture on hypercube representation of SET cards and sets. Determine if this representation can help you make progress on your research questions. | Finish up research with goal of assembling your presentation on Friday. |
| Friday | 9/21 | Presentation assembly day! Sign up for presentation time slots. | Meet with your group outside of class to finalize and practice your
presentation.
Work on the Yajilin Puzzle of the Week to hand in at the start of class on Wednesday. |
| Monday | 9/24 | As per your request, another presentation assembly day and chance to extend or generalize your results. | Meet again with your group outside of class to prepare for presentations. |
| Wednesday | 9/26 | PRESENTATION DAY | Review results from each presentation in order to prepare for the upcoming end-of-unit test. |
| Friday | 9/28 | PRESENTATION DAY | Attend the mathematics colloquium at 3:45 today (refreshments at 3:30) in Roop 103: Francis Su, Harvey Mudd College, Splitting the Rent, Keeping the Peace: Negotiating with Mathematics. Hand in a 1-page typed writeup about the colloquium at the start of Monday's class. |
| Monday | 10/1 | PRESENTATION DAY | Today is the registration deadline for the SUMS Conference. Please register if you plan to attend. |
| Wednesday | 10/3 | SET COMPETITION! Also information about Friday's test. | Study for Friday's SET test.
Work on the Shikaku Puzzle of the Week to hand in at the start of class on Wednesday. |
| Friday | 10/5 | SET Test | Attend the mathematics colloquium at 3:45 today (refreshments at 3:30) in Roop 103: Dominic Lanphier, Western Kentucky University, Truels, Gruels, and the Survival of the Unfit. Hand in a 1-page typed writeup about the colloquium at the start of Monday's class. |
| Monday | 10/8 | Flatland: The Movie | Attend the mathematics colloquium at 3:45 today (refreshments at 3:30) in Roop 103: Kelly Dickson, North Carolina State University, Numerical Continuation for Atomic and Molecular Fluids. Hand in a 1-page typed writeup about the colloquium at the start of Wednesday's class. |
| Wednesday | 10/10 | Flatland/hypercube worksheet (problems 1, 2, and 3), in groups. Watch "Professor Flatland" clip and examine tesseract worksheet. Report solutions at the board for participation spheres. | Finish problem 3 of the Flatland/hypercube worksheet. |
| Friday | 10/12 | Flatland/hypercube worksheet (problems 3, 4, 5), in groups. V/E/F table for hypercubes, and cube cross-section handout. Report solutions at the board for spheres. | Finish any remaining problems on your Flatland/hypercube worksheet. |
| Saturday | 10/13 | Shenandoah Undergraduate Mathematics and Statistics (SUMS) Conference, 9 am to 5 pm in the HHS building on the JMU campus. One-hour addresses are at 10:00 am and 4:00 pm. | Attend at least one of the 1-hour invited talks and at least two of the 15-minute contributed talks. Submit a one-page typed writeup of your experience in class on Monday. |
| Monday | 10/15 | Math Life documentary | Enjoy life and ponder various things. |
| Wednesday | 10/17 | New groups! This time only two people per group.
Learn how to fold modular origami triangles.
Note: Midsemester grades will be submitted today. |
Each pair of students must make 30 triangles by the end of break, i.e. the start of Monday's class. That's 15 per person! |
| Friday | 10/19 | (Fall Break - no class) | Continue assembly of modular origami triangles. |
| Monday | 10/22 | What is a regular polygon? What is a stable solid? What is valence? Learn how to make connnectors/joints for the modular origami units, and begin assembling stable solids with triangle faces. Record results on the stable solids data worksheet, and report results at the board for spheres. | Continue making stable solids with triangle faces in your own time outside of class. Each pair of students must assemble and save one version of each object that you discover. |
| Wednesday | 10/24 | Continue assembly and search for stable solids with triangle faces.
Finish reporting at the board for stable solids with triangle faces; record on data worksheet.
Note: By university deadline, tomorrow is the last day you can withdraw from class with a W; after that you can request a WP/WF grade until 11/16. |
Finish assembly of stable solids with triangle faces. |
| Friday | 10/26 | Argue that there can only be three stable solids with triangle faces (tetrahedron, octahedron, icosahedron). Complete Wuestion 1 on the "Why Only ___ Stable Solids" worksheet. Learn how to make square modular origami units, and attempt to make a stable solid with square faces that is not a cube. (You can't!) Use your square units to make the cube. Complete question 2 on the worksheet and report at the board for spheres. | Finish question 2 on the worksheet, finish the cube, fill in cube row of the data worksheet. |
| Monday | 10/29 | Learn modular origami pentagon edge modules, and begin assembly of stable solids with pentagon faces. Discuss why only valence 3 is possible in this situation, and record on the "Why" worksheet. Attempt to properly 3-color the edges of your object. | Keep working on the pentagon edge modules and assembly. Be sure all edge modules are completed before class. |
| Wednesday | 10/31 | Finish assembly of stable solid with pentagon edge modules (dodecahedron). If your object is not properly 3-colored, attempt to disassemble and fix. Prepare to get stuck! (Those who finish early can make an origami "Magic Pinwheel.") | Finish dodecahdron outside of class if you have not already finished it. |
| Friday | 11/2 | Worksheet on properly 3-coloring the dodecahedron with the planar graphs/Hamiltonian circuit trick. Work in groups and report at the board for spheres. | Make a color map for your dodecahedron. A nice one. With the correct colors. |
| Monday | 11/5 | Use your planar graph color map to (re)-construct your dodecahedron so that is is properly 3-colored. Finish all worksheets. Meet with partner to discuss what still needs to be done outside of class. | Finish all assembly and worksheets; project turn-in day is Wednesday!
Attend the mathematics colloquium at 3:45 today (refreshments at 3:30) in Roop 103: Francoise Seillier-Moiseiwitsch, Georgetown University, Analysis of Two-Dimensional Gel Images. Hand in a 1-page typed writeup about the colloquium at the start of Wednesday's class. |
| Wednesday | 11/7 | PROJECT TURN-IN DAY (each group will evaluate two projects) | Rest. Relax. You did a great job! Oh wait, also do the reading assignment and the four assigned homework problems following the reading. |
| Friday | 11/9 | (No class today - Laura will be out of town) | Work on the Kuromasu Puzzle of the Week to hand in at the start of class on Wednesday. |
| Monday | 11/12 | Platonic Solids video to recap Euclid's original argument (and yours!) that there are exactly five Platonic Solids (i.e. "stable solids"). Discuss the definition of divisibility, and present solutions to the various parts of problem 2.1 at the board for spheres. | Attend the mathematics colloquium at 3:45 today (refreshments at 3:30) in Roop 103: Elizabeth Arnold, James Madison University, Groebner Bases, Map Coloring, and Sudoku Puzzles. Hand in a 1-page typed writeup about the colloquium at the start of Wednesday's class. |
| Wednesday | 11/14 | ||
| Friday | 11/16 | Note: Today is the last day that I will accomodate requests for WP and WF grades. In my class you must have a grade of C- or better to earn a WP. No W-type grades after today! | |
| Monday | 11/19 | ||
| Wednesday | 11/21 | (Thanksgiving Break - no class) | |
| Friday | 11/23 | (Thanksgiving Break - no class) | |
| Monday | 11/26 | ||
| Wednesday | 11/28 | ||
| Friday | 11/30 | ||
| Monday | 12/3 | ||
| Wednesday | 12/5 | ||
| Friday | 12/7 | Last day of class. | |
| Monday | 12/10 | FINAL EXAM FOR SECTION 02 (the 9:05 section):
MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 8:00-10:00 AM, BURRUSS 141. |
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| Wednesday | 12/12 | FINAL EXAM FOR SECTION 03 (the 10:10 section):
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 8:00-10:00 AM, BURRUSS 141. |
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