Final Exam Research Presentations on Mathematical Breakthroughs

Goals and Objectives: To complete the theme of what mathematics is, you will choose a topic and see how mathematics relates to it. We have spent time in the statistics segment showing diverse perspectives as well as critically analyzing information. In this light it might seem difficult to make progress in understanding a topic or issue. However, to flip this perspective, we will conclude the semester by examining some of the amazing mathematical breakthoughs that have already occurred and how they have helped humanity. You may work with at most one other person.
  1. What is one or more topics you are interested in exploring for the final research project? You may need to tweak it later, such as narrowing or broadening it.

  2. Search for mathematics and your topic(s) and write down a few items of what you find (bullet points).



  3. Find a mathematician or civilization/culture that has an important contribution that relates and write down
    1. the name of the mathematician and/or the civilization/culture
    2. how they contributed
    3. when they contributed (a year or range of years)
    4. the source reference.


  4. Find an equation related to the topic and write down the equation, how it connects, and the source reference.



  5. Find a mathematical image related to the topic and write down the source reference [note that Google images (a database) is not a source reference-but you can write down the original webpage the image came from].



  6. Look for connections from our prior segments (geometry of the earth and universe, personal finance and beyond, consumer statistics and probability)
    1. geometry



    2. algebra



    3. statistics



    4. probability



  7. Look for real-life applications and modern significance of the mathematics.


  8. Continue researching to find more mathematical items for #3-#7. Put on your math goggles like the video we watched last week and follow the math: choose the most mathematical people and items you can locate to include in your project. I'm happy to help!