Service Learning Coursebook in Mathematics

Chapter 10 : Individual Course Projects

 Math 3690:  Design of Experiments

Project I : Climate and Weather Patterns
 Using historical data from the West Central Experiment Station, students will examine weather patterns, temperature fluctuations, precipitation levels, and ground soil temperatures in the City of Morris.

Project II : Pomme de Terre River Characteristics
 The Soil and Water Conservation District provides data related to river velocity, water levels, and erosion for two sites of the Pomme de Terre river. One site is in the City of Morris and the other is South of Morris, after which Muddy Creek drains into the Pomme de Terre.

Project III : Climate Impact on the Pomme de Terre River
 Using results from the first two projects, students will then integrate the results from each to build climate models to predict water levels, velocity and erosion of the Pomme de Terre dependent upon the climate conditions. This can then be used by the Soil and Water Conservation District to assess the various climate related conditions which may affect the Pomme de Terre River.

Project IV : The Impact of Muddy Creek on the Pomme de Terre River
 Using model building techniques and impact analysis, and results from the three previous projects will be used to help assess the impact which Muddy Creek has on the Pomme de Terre as it relates to river flow velocity, water levels, and erosion.

Project V : Land and Property Values
 Using data from the Stevens County Assessors Office, characteristics of land and property values will be summarized and examined within the City of Morris. This includes homestead designations, lot size, and the property tax rates.

Project VI : Zoning and its Relation to Land and Property Values
 The designation of either residential, commercial, and industrial zones provides some insight as to the impact which these have on land and property values. Maps will be created indicating various subdivisions in the City of Morris, and the value characteristics which they hold will be reported.

Project VII : Plant Species Analysis
 This is part of the interdisciplinary assistance which is offered to UMM faculty involved in research. Here, Ellen Ordway, Professor of Biology, examined the growth of various plant species over time.

Project VIII : Non-game Migratory Bird Inventory Analysis
 Working with the Morris Wetland Management District, students will examine migration patterns and bird counts of 10 classifications of bird categories in 12 wetland sites in 6 West Central Minnesota counties.

Coordinator Notes
Originally, plans were made to study Land Use Characteristics and Regional Transportation. However, the topics in this course proved to be beneficial to many community agencies, and for this reason no set areas of analysis were sought.

Projects V and VI were not completed due to insufficient data from the Stevens County Assessors office. They determined that the data should be available within 2 years, as they are not yet computerized to the point that data can be given out on a disk. Project VII was not completed due to errors in the data collection process.

On May 10, 1996 the students went to the Morris Wetland Management District and met with Bernie Angus and Donna Rieckmann for "Migratory Bird Day". The history of Wetland Management, alone with the current and future projects were discussed, followed by a Prairie Tour with emphasis on the various species of birds seen.

Faculty Notes
 The project went very smoothly, and it was actually easier having the data provided by the project coordinator. Normally, it would take time to examine texts and to find appropriate data sets for the students to analyze. Because the data was first given to myself and the students at the same time, I learned along with the students. I believe they saw the real practice of statistical data analysis - initial examination of the data and exploratory techniques. The students have seen all stages of analysis - design and data collection, initial data manipulations, exploratory and confirmatory data analysis, and most importantly the student could see the possible impact of the results. I did not lose any coverage of material in the course, and if anything enhanced the students understanding of the material provided.

 Texts Used : Statistics for Experimenters : An Introduction to Design, Data Analysis, and Model Building by Box, Hunter & Hunter.

Mathematical Concepts
 Project I : Exploratory data analysis techniques, quantile plots, box plots, stem plots, normal plots, external reference distributions for inference, time series analysis, auto correlations, and ACF plots.

 Projects II & VIII : Randomized blocks, multi-way factorial designs, multiple comparisons.

 Project III : Comparisons of 2 treatment means, data transformations, general linear models.

Additional Sources
 Soil and Water Conservation District : Data related to water well depths, discharge rates and soil types along the Pomme de Terre River. Contact : Andrew Gomer or Dave Jungst, RR 3 Box 10, Morris MN 56267. (320) 589-2266

Morris Wetland Management District : Data related to bird migration and counts, as this will be the analysis for the Non-Game Migratory Bird Inventory on Waterfowl Production Areas, Morris Wetland Management District, 1995 study. Contact Bernie Angus (320) 589-1001.

This page was created and maintained by Benjamin S. Winchester. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact me.