MGF 1107 Mathematician Presentation (Large Project)

 

Due Date:    Sign up in class!

Directions:

 

Create a presentation of the life of a mathematician of your choosing.  Document the person’s life by including the required items below and any others that you see fit.  Use pictures (either sketched or copied) with short captions that help to tell the story.  (Do not print out paragraphs or pages from the internet or some other source and paste them in.  Write things in your own words.)  Create a poster and other visual aids that may support your talk.  People should get a good idea about the life of your person within 10 to 15 minutes. 

 

Grading Rubric:

 

2 points

Mathematician Approved: You will need to get your mathematician approved before starting the project.  Do some preliminary research to find a suitable person, and submit the name to me by August 27, 2008.  Include your name and your mathematician’s name, and I will let you know at a later time if your choice is approved.

 

2 points

Chronological Organization: Since it is a story of a person’s life, the presentation should be arranged from birth to death. 

 

3 points

Cover Sheet: On the back of your visual aids, include your name, the college’s name, the course, your mathematician’s name, my name, and the due date.  Make this your first slide if you do a PowerPoint presentation.

 

3 points          

Captions: Make the captions original, brief, and relevant.        

 

4 points

Pictures: Have at least 2 pictures of the person.  Include a caption with each picture that has the resource where you found the picture.

 

8 points

Birth Certificate/Announcement: The birth certificate may be a copy of the person’s real certificate or a certificate of your design. 

 

10 points

Resume of Achievements: The resume needs to be one that you write.  Include all relevant experiences (awards, discoveries, jobs, etc.), educational pursuits (schools and degrees), and interests (professional and personal). 

 

10 points

Newspaper Article: Write a fictitious newspaper article about something the mathematician actually did.  Do not use real newspaper articles.  Please put your name as the author.

 

30 points

Mathematical Accomplishment: Explain one of the mathematical discoveries that your person made.  Since you need to be able to understand and explain this discovery well enough to teach it to your classmates, choose your mathematician carefully.  This will be a necessary component of your presentation where you will teach the class about the mathematical concept.

 

3 points

Famous Quotes: List at least 2 quotes that your mathematician said.

 

7 points

Postage Stamp of the Mathematician: For the postage stamp, try to find one that exists.  Check http://jeff560.tripod.com/  or see if you can find one elsewhere.  If you cannot find a stamp, then you can design one that includes the person and a significant accomplishment. 

 

8 points

Death Certificate/Announcement or Life Update: The death certificate may be a copy of the person’s real certificate or a certificate of your design.  If the person is still alive, then provide a life update.  Talk about where the person is living and what the person is doing. 

 

10 points

List of Resources: On the back of your visual aids, include a list of resources (web sites, books, journals, magazines, TV programs, etc.) that you used when creating the book.  Write the list in bibliography format.  Sites such as Wikipedia are NOT considered as valid resources.  (Anyone can go in and change the information.)  Please make sure than any websites are solid.  If you are not sure, just ask.

_________________

100 points   TOTAL

 

 

NOTE: You need to make sure that everything is written in your own words.  If you copy from a source, you are plagiarizing and can expect to receive a significant grade reduction.  If you have questions or concerns, bring your materials for review before your due date.