Most students who take calculus will not become math majors, and most wonder what relevance calculus has to their future major and the topics they are really interested in. Here is your chance to find out! The topic for the fall semester paper is to describe a subject you are interested in studying and how calculus is useful for that subject. This is a great excuse to look ahead to future college classes and to talk with people who know more about the subjects you will study.
The paper should be 2-4 pages long, although you may write more if you wish. I am not very picky about format, but it's great if you can use what you've learned in English and other classes to write a good paper. You must cite your sources, and my only requirement is to have one of each of the following sources:
You may of course include other sources. If you're ambitious I highly recommend trying to contact a professor in an area you wish to study at a college you'd particularly like to attend. This is a good excuse to talk with such a professor!
I'm happy to help you come up with a topic and work on the paper. Your proposed topic is due via email by Monday, October 4. A preliminary list of sources (including at least each of the three above) is due via email by Monday, October 18. A rough draft is due Monday, November 1, but you are welcome to submit it earlier. If the rough draft is good enough, you're done! Otherwise I'll suggest improvements and you can hand in the final draft by Monday, November 15. I expect everyone to get full points for the paper.
You must submit your paper to me electronically in either Word, Google Docs, or PDF format. I'll return comments to you electronically as well.