Discrete Math Curriculum
In addition to the specific content of graphs and voting systems, I had several broad goals in designing a discrete math course for high school students.
As you review the course material below, you can decide whether this course achieved its objectives.
The course naturally divides into two quarters. The first quarter will focus on a traditional discrete math curriculum with an emphasis on computation and problem solving. The second quarter will shift into messier applications of math – situations that are often still open to debate and disagreement.
- Provide students with problems that allow them to explore on their own.
- Highlight the many applications of discrete math.
- Include plenty of writing as part of the course. Part of mathematics is learning to communicate you ideas well.
- Appeal to a wide audience: the class should be accessible to pre-calculus juniors.
As you review the course material below, you can decide whether this course achieved its objectives.
The course naturally divides into two quarters. The first quarter will focus on a traditional discrete math curriculum with an emphasis on computation and problem solving. The second quarter will shift into messier applications of math – situations that are often still open to debate and disagreement.
First Quarter
9 Weeks Game Theory
Topics: take-away games, Nim, and binary notation Assignments:
Graph Theory Topics: Euler Circuits, Hamiltonian Circuits, Weighted Paths, Traveling Salesman Problem Assignments: Combinatorics Topics: Independent Events, Disjoint Events, Probability, Expected Value Assignments: You can read more about the piggies here. |
Second Quarter
9 Weeks Voting Theory
Topics: Plurality Vote, Borda Count, Condorcet Criterion, Independence of Irrelevant Alternatives Assignments: Apportionment Topics: Hamilton, Jefferson, Webster, Hill-Huntington, Incremental Methods Assignments:
Identification Numbers Topics: Error Detection, Check Digits, UPC numbers, Barcodes Assignments:
|
Textbook: For All Practical Purposes: Mathematical Literacy in Today's World, Ninth Edition. ISBN-13: 978-1-4292-5481-6. All problem set problems were taken from this textbook.
Feel free to use any of this material in your classroom. Please share how it goes. You can contact me here.
Last edited 1/22/2015