Course Catalog - North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics

MA430 AP Calculus BC (Advanced Topics I):Contemporary CalculusOne trimester (1 unit of credit)Prerequisite: Final grade of B- or higher in MA355Precalculus and Modeling with Advanced Topics orpermission of the Dean of Mathematics.Meeting pattern: 4 periods per week including labThis course provides students with a fast-paced introduction to theconcepts of differential calculus and the applications of calculus tomathematical modeling. Through class discussions, problem solving,laboratory experiences, and writing assignments students discoverthe important concepts of calculus, develop an understanding ofthese concepts, and use these concepts in solving realistic problems.This course generally includes the completion of a substantialmathematical modeling project. Calculators and computers areused as tools in the course. Topics normally covered include thederivative, local linearity of functions, linear approximations, someapplications of the derivative, l’Hopital’s rule and the concept ofa limit.MA432 AP Calculus BC (Advanced Topics II):Contemporary CalculusOne trimester (1 unit of credit)Prerequisite: Final grade of C or higher in MA428 Calculus(Advanced Topics) or MA430 AP Calculus BC (AdvancedTopics I).Meeting pattern: 5 periods per week including labThis course continues the accelerated study of calculus and itsapplications to mathematical modeling. Through class discussions,problem solving, laboratory experiences, and writing assignmentsstudents discover the important concepts of calculus, develop anunderstanding of these concepts, and use these concepts in solvingrealistic problems. This course generally includes the completionof a substantial mathematical modeling project. Calculators andcomputers are used as tools in the course. Topics normally coveredinclude additional applications of the derivative, an introductionto differential equations, slope fields, Euler’s method, definite andindefinite integrals, numerical approximations of integrals, calculatingarea and total change of a function, and some applications ofintegrals. Students also focus on skills necessary for success on theAP BC Calculus examination.MA440 AP Statistics (Advanced Topics I)One trimester (1 unit of credit)Corequisite: MA420 AP Calculus BC (I) and permission ofthe Dean of Mathematics.Meeting pattern: 4 periods per weekThis course gives advanced students an opportunity to study theideas and topics in MA404 AP Statistics (I) in greater depth and at afaster pace. More emphasis is placed on the development of themathematical underpinnings, especially those related to calculus andto the theory of statistics. Additional topics such as multiple regressionare selected to supplement the course.MA442 AP Statistics (Advanced Topics II)One trimester (1 unit of credit)Prerequisite: Final grade of C or higher in MA440 APStatistics (Advanced Topics I)Meeting pattern: 4 periods per weekThis course is a faster-paced and more in-depth study of thetopics in MA406 AP Statistics (II). More emphasis is placed on thedevelopment of the mathematical underpinnings of the expectedvalue theorems and the introductory inference procedures. Moresophisticated applications of probability are also included. The courseinvolves project work that requires students to design and carry outexperiments and analyze results.MA444 AP Statistics (Advanced Topics III)One trimester (1 unit of credit)Prerequisite: Final grade of C or higher in MA442 APStatistics (Advanced Topics II).Meeting pattern: 4 periods per weekThis course is a faster-paced and more in-depth study of the topics inMA408 AP Statistics (III). More emphasis is placed on the developmentof the mathematical underpinnings, especially those related tocalculus and to the theory of statistics. Additional topics such asanalysis of variance are selected to supplement the course. Thecourse involves project work that requires students to design andcarry out experiments and analyze results.MA440, MA442, MA444 constitute a comprehensive introduction toStatistics and include all of the topics on the AP Statistics syllabus.MATHEMATICSMA434 AP Calculus BC (Advanced Topics III):Contemporary CalculusOne trimester (1 unit of credit)Prerequisite: Final grade of C or higher in MA432 APCalculus BC (Advanced Topics II).Meeting pattern: 4 periods per week including labThis course continues the accelerated study of calculus and itsapplications to mathematical modeling. Through class discussions,problem solving, laboratory experiences, and writing assignmentsstudents discover the important concepts of calculus, develop anunderstanding of these concepts, and use these concepts in solvingrealistic problems. This course generally includes the completionof a substantial mathematical modeling project. Calculators andcomputers are used as tools in the course. Topics normally coveredinclude additional discussion of Taylor series and power series,additional techniques of integration, improper integrals, and moreapplications of integrals.MA446* Advanced Mathematical ProblemSolving IMA448* Advanced Mathematical ProblemSolving IIMA450* Advanced Mathematical ProblemSolving IIIOne trimester each (1 unit of credit each)Students may enroll in and receive credit for any, or all,of these one-trimester courses.Prerequisite: Permission of the Dean of Mathematics.Meeting pattern: 2 periods per weekThese three one-trimester courses cover sophisticated mathematicaltopics and how they can be helpful in solving challenging problemsin competitions such as the Mathematical Olympiads. Students workon problem sets each week.MA428 or MA430, and MA432, MA434 constitute a comprehensivestudy of calculus and include all of the topics on the AP CalculusBC syllabus.NCSSM 2008-0921COURSE CATALOG