- 450 Level: Advanced (ADV)
- Mathematics
Grades: 11, 12
Fall
PREREQ: B+ or better in Honors Precalculus OR A or better in Precalculus with permission of the Math Department
This Advanced course is designed for highly motivated students who are interested in creatively applying mathematics to complex, challenging and authentic real-world problems. Students will work collaboratively through the mathematical modeling process to study globally relevant, multi-faceted phenomena. The models they design will be used to analyze scenarios in different fields like biology, engineering, political science, business and economics — and in everyday life. Some examples of the problems students may tackle include issues like designing congressional districts; reforming the Electoral College; finding fair ways to compensate employees at an institution; developing efficient processes for boarding and landing airplanes at an airport; and managing animal populations in national parks. Through these kinds of problems, students will learn to develop and refine mathematical models, use models to find interesting patterns and trends, incorporate analysis from various technological programs and critique models. The course is largely project-based, so students will be assessed mostly through written reports, policy memos and presentations. All students will compete in the High School Mathematical Contest in Modeling (HiMCM) in November. In the last weeks of the course, students will develop their own final modeling project based on their personal interests and questions they want to explore.
- Grade 11
- Grade 12