Math Modeling Field Day

Susan StaatsSue Staats, associate professor in the Department of Postsecondary Teaching and Learning, recently hosted the first Math Modeling Field Day for College in the Schools high school algebra students (PsTL 1006 Mathematical Modeling and Prediction). Six schools and 110 students participated.
Students developed a plan for siting a wind farm in Minnesota and competed to design wind turbine blades that produced the highest voltage. A young woman at El Colegio Charter School developed the winning blade design. She softened balsa wood slats in water and wrapped them around cylindrical veladoras prayer candles to dry. Staats said it was “a lot of fun to see the beautiful curved blades that she produced using a cultural object.”