CS382:Unit-foundation

Fermiproblems - Use fermiproblems to encourage students to be comfortable making estimates and discovering ways to estimate with only limited data available. Worked examples are available here

• A list of Problems is available here

Skill-set

• Using available sources to find information
• Quickly vetting sources
• Acquiring a feel for how to determine what factors are significant
• Learning how to make estimates where figures are not available
• Learning how to show and defend the reasoning behind extrapolations
• Being able to make quick back of the napkin calculations
• Understanding of what significant figures are and how to calculate them
• Understanding the difference between accuracy and precision

Materials needed

• Problems which are relevant to the models which the students will later be constructing in the class
• Worked through examples showing a complete model and demonstrating which information is necessary for a ballpark estimation and which is not.
• Problem sets for the students to work through
• A quick example of scale such as powers of 10

Lecture Outline

How to build a model

• What data do you get?
  • Establishing a feeling for what is significant
    • Bring in a jar of Jelly beans. Ask students to guess how many there are. Ask for which measurements are necessary to get a good guess.
    • Ask a big question... IE what is the area of the Heart. Brainstorm. (This provides a theoretical background to the measuring lab.
  • Establish a feeling for what is too detailed
    • Explain what the difference is between a back of the napkin calculation and an exhaustive one
    • Provide an example of a model and how to make it tractable.
      • Dropping a ball 10 meters (useful data: Gravity not really useful: Drag, Gravity at our altitude ball surface etc.)
  • Introduce the idea of orders of magnitude
    • Talk about fermi-problems
• Where do you get data?
  • Making all your own data is hard.
    • Unlike in high-school copying is good, just remember to cite
    • We don't want to reinvent the wheel each time we build something.
    • Ask how many piano tuners there are in Chicago
      • Work through the fermiproblem
  • But do we trust other people's data?
    • Discuss the notion of vetting sources
    • explain scientific rigor
• What do you do with your data?

Comments

Pros

• What makes a good model vs. what makes just a model

Cons

Comments

• Is this included in all of the other units, or also use this and then use these skills in lots of other places?
  • We need to make sure that this - if it's a unit on its own - that it isn't a very boring first unit
• Include talking about orders of magnitude, scale, significant figures, accuracy vs. precision, pattern recognition

To Do

• Sam has a high school teacher who has a list of many examples, he is going to get in contact with them.
• Think about and perhaps talk to Fitz/Brad about how much from Fire could be used to address this foundation unit