Syllabus MAT 17A (honors) Fall 2014 Walcott

Potentially useful information about me: Potentially useful information about the course:
Name: Sam Walcott Name: Calculus for the Life Sciences (honors)
Office: MSB 2148 Location: Giedt 1007
Email: swalcott@math.ucdavis.edu Time: MWF 10:00 10:50 am
Final: Fri. December 19, 10:30am12:30pm.

Disclaimer: This syllabus is a general guideline lecture topics and associated reading will almost certainly
change as the course progresses. I will let you know in class when we deviate from the syllabus.

Note: To stay enrolled in any 17A class, you must have scored a 30 or more on your Math Placement Exam,
with 2 or more as your trigonometry sub-score. This is an honors class. I will hold you to a higher standard
than a regular 17A course.

Book: All assigned reading, except designated handouts, are from Calculus for Biology and Medicine, (Third
Edition) Claudia Neuhauser, 2011.

Grade Breakdown:
Homework (due most Thursdays): 15%
Exam 1 (Nov. 3, in class): 25%
Exam 2 (Nov. 26, in class): 25%

Final (Cumulative, Fri. December 19, 10:30am12:30 pm): 35%

General Exam Information:

Midterms are not cumulative; the final is. Note, however, that some of the material for the second
midterm requires a solid understanding of concepts covered on the first midterm.
Calculators, notes, paper, textbooks, etc. are not allowed. Bring only a pen or, better yet, a pencil
and eraser.
If you have documented special needs (or will miss an exam due to a documented university sanctioned
excuse), contact me well before, and at least a week before, the exam.
No make-up exams

General Homework Information:

More details are available on the cover sheet to your homework.

Available on Smartsite, due by the end of section the following week.

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 To be completed in an assigned group of 3 or 4.
One assignment turned in per group, the person in charge or writing and handing in the homework
rotates every assignment.
Lowest grade dropped

Late homework may or may not be accepted at reduced credit.

Help:
Email is an inefficient way to discuss math problems. Please use one of these resources for math-related
problems:

Office hours (your TA, Evan, and I will each have two per week)
The calculus room (Rm 1316, Earth and Planetary Sciences; MTW 1-4pm, R 4-7pm, F 4-6 pm).
Smartsite chatroom

Academic success center (Workshop, 12:10-1pm, 3216 Dutton; Drop-in tutoring, times TBA).

Regrades:
After you receive your graded midterms or homework, you have one week to request a regrade. If you think
one of your exams or homework assignments was graded inappropriately:

Dont write anything on your exam/homework.

Make sure you know how to do the problem correctly.
During office hours (or after class, if it is quick), show your issue to me or your TA, Evan, to see if we
think you have a point.

Write an essay about why you should get more points. If it helps, mark up a photocopy of your work.
Give your homework/exam with the essay to me or Evan.
If you complete all of these steps, the problem will be regraded, but keep in mind that your grade can
go up or down.

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Class/date Topic Reading
1. Oct. 3, Friday Preliminaries (functions/variables) 11.3
2. Oct. 6, Monday Preliminaries (exp. functions/allometry/half life) 11.3
3. Oct. 8, Wednesday Preliminaries (graphing/transformations) 11.3
4. Oct. 10, Friday Discrete models 2.1
5. Oct. 13, Monday Sequences 2.2
6. Oct. 15, Wednesday Examples of discrete models 2.3
Thurs. Oct. 16 HW 1 Due in section
7. Oct. 17, Friday Limits 3.1
8. Oct. 20, Monday Continuity 3.2, 3.5
9. Oct. 22, Wednesday Limits at 3.3, 3.4
Thurs. Oct. 23 HW 2 Due in section
10. Oct. 24, Friday Definition of derivative 4.1
11. Oct. 27, Monday Definition of derivative 4.1
12. Oct. 29, Wednesday Power rule 4.2
Thurs. Oct. 30 HW 3 Due in section
13. Oct. 31, Friday Product rule 4.3

14. Nov. 3, Monday Midterm 1 1 4.2

15. Nov. 5, Wednesday Chain rule 4.4

16. Nov. 7, Friday Derivatives of exp./trig. functions 4.54.6
17. Nov. 10, Monday Linear approximation 4.8
18. Nov. 12, Wednesday Extrema 5.1
Thurs. Nov. 13 HW 4 Due in section
19. Nov. 14, Friday Monotonicity/concavity 5.2
20. Nov. 17, Monday Graphing 5.3
21. Nov. 19, Wednesday Graphing 5.3
Thurs. Nov. 20 HW 5 Due in section
22. Nov. 21, Friday Optimization 5.4
23. Nov. 24, Monday Optimization 5.4

24. Nov. 26, Wednesday Midterm 2 4 5.4

Nov. 28, Friday Thanksgiving, no class

25. Dec. 1, Monday LHopitals rule 5.5
26. Dec. 3, Wednesday Difference eq.s 5.6
Thurs. Dec. 4 HW 6 Due in section
27. Dec. 5, Friday Stability of fixed points in diff. eq.s 5.6
28. Dec. 8, Monday Catch up
29. Dec. 10, Wednesday Catch up
Thurs. Dec. 11 HW 7 Due in section
30. Dec. 12, Friday Catch up

31. Dec. 19, Friday Final 10:30am-12:30 pm.