Integrating Sustainability Into Math
Classes: What We Learned
October 29, 2012
So What is Sustainability?
• YouTube video 1:28
Introduction
Caroline Goodman
Assistant Professor,
Mathematics
Johnson County CC
Overland Park, KS
Introduction
Kathi Lefert
Assistant Professor,
Mathematics
Johnson County CC
Overland Park, KS
Why Sustainability now?
In 2008, the President of JCCC signed the American
College & University Presidents Climate Commitment,
making sustainability an important part of JCCC. Since
then, JCCC has
• incorporated sustainability into the curriculum;
• developed new recycling initiatives;
• planted a campus farm as well as an edible schoolyard;
• built new “green” buildings, including Galileo’s Pavilion;
• and launched energy efficiency measures that have
saved the college more than $700,000.
JCCC Center for Sustainability
• coordinates the sustainability efforts at our
college
• Kim Criner, Student Sustainability Affairs
Coordinator
• Sunflower Project: Sustainability Across the
Curriculum
• Two levels of mini-grants were offered to
faculty: creation of a new course or revision of
existing course
Kathi’s assignment
• Find a function
• Some examples
Holy Crap! – Haiti video
• YouTube video on Haiti 5:08
Caroline’s 1st assignment:
• Define “sustainability”
Math 171
Sustainability
Due Date:
1. Write a brief paragraph, defining “sustainability”. Please type.
2. Write a paragraph about one of the topics below, relating it to the definition of Sustainability
that you wrote in paragraph one above.
Recycling
Rain forests
Solar energy
Wind energy
Carbon footprint
Product packaging
Population growth
Buying local
Native plants
Storm water runoff
Alternative fuels
Electric cars
Rechargable batteries
Landfills
Composting
Water bottles
Sustainability Explained
• 2:02 animated explanation of sustainability
Questions/Problems/Exercises
College Algebra, Stewart, Redlin, Watson, 6th edition,
Brooks/Cole, 2013.
Page 5
Page 61
Page 102
Page 194
Page 331
Page 358
Page 623
# 14 water usage
#25 energy cost of car
#101 windmill
# 92 global warming
#82 Wind turbines
#83 Utility rates
# 35 windmill (direct variation)
# 27 world population stabilize (exponential)
# 5 pollution (sequences)
Questions/Problems/Exercises
College Algebra, Blitzer, 5th edition, Pearson, 2010
Page 154
Page 241
Page 281
Page 327
Page 422
Page 457
Page 459
Page 477
#148 Area of community vegetable garden
(quadratic)
#89 Life expectancy (linear functions)
#95 Number of births and deaths in U.S.
(quadratic)
#86 Fuel efficiency (quadratic)
#65 Population growth (exponential)
#66 Radioactive decay – Chernobyl (exponential)
#103 & 104 Surface sunlight (exponential)
#117 Acid rain (logarithmic)
#81 CO2 in atmosphere (exponential)
Questions/Problems/Exercises
Functions Modeling Change, A Preparation for Calculus, Connally, Hughes-Hallet, Gleason, et al.,
4th edition, Wiley, 2011.
Linear functions & review
Page 34 #41 Demand for gasoline
#43 Solid Waste generated
Functions
Page 74 #36 &37 Carbon dioxide levels vs. hurricane intensity
Page 92 #39 Oil Slick expansion
#40 Greenhouse gases
Exponential Functions
Page 137 #32 Lake pollution
#41 Solar Photovoltaic Market installations
#48 Natural forest decreasing
Page 147 #35 Treaty to protect the ozone layer
Page 155 #45 Wind energy
Page 171 #70 Sales of compact fluorescent lamps
Logarithms
Page 193 Food supply
Page 217 #63 Oil leak
Combining Functions
Page 414-418
Food Supply
Questions/Problems/Exercises
Applied Calculus, Berresford, Rockett, 5th edition, Brooks/Cole, 2010
Functions (review)
Page 49
Page 59
Page 67
Page 69
Page 150
Page 162
#86 Wind energy (quadratic functions)
Example 8, predicting water usage (composite functions)
#79 population (exp. Function)
#80 population (exp. Function)
#91 Wind energy (creating an exponential function)
#42 Global temperatures (adapt for College Algebra)
#43 Sea levels (adapt for College Algebra)
#63 Pollution (adapt for College Algebra composite function)
Exponential Functions (review)
Page 269 #12 Linear vs. Exponential Growth
#29 Population of the World
#30 Population of China vs. India
#47 Population of California vs. Texas
Logarithmic Functions (review)
Page 286 #22 Population of Georgia doubling
#23 Energy Output of world
#35 Radioactive Waste
#36 Rain Forests disappearing
#47 Nuclear Waste
Caroline’s Problem of the Week
• Template
• POW #1 (Solid Waste increasing linearly)
• POW #4 (domain and range of a function)
Sustainability
Problem of the week
Name:
Due date:
1. Question
2. How does this relate to Sustainability? Please
write in complete sentences. 
Sustainability
Problem of the week
1.
Name:
Due date:
Question: (from: Functions Modeling Change, 4th ed.)
The solid waste generated each year in the cities of the US is
increasing. The solid waste generated, in millions of tons, was 88.1
in 1960 and 239.1 in 2000. The trend appears linear during this
time.
Construct a formula for the amount of municipal solid waste generated
in the US by finding the equation of the line through these two
points.
Use this formula to predict the amount of municipal solid waste
generated in the US, in millions of tons, in the year 2020.
2.
How does this relate to Sustainability? Please write in complete
sentences. 
WALL-E
Sustainability
Problem of the week
Name:
Due date:
1. Question: (from: Functions Modeling Change, 4th ed.)
Carbon dioxide is one of the greenhouse gases that are believed to
affect global warming. Between 2004 and 2008, the concentration of
carbon dioxide in the earth’s atmosphere increased steadily from 375
parts per million (ppm) to 383 ppm. Let C(t) be the concentration in
ppm of carbon dioxide t years after 2004 during these 4 years.
a) State the domain and range of C(t).
b) What is the practical meaning of C(4)? What is its value?
c) What does C-1(381) represent?
2. How does this relate to Sustainability? Please write in complete
sentences. 
Galileo’s Pavilion
• A brand new building at JCCC
Web pages: where we’ve tried
www.youtube.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0agaK82_hJ0
Search: Holy Crap! Haiti 5:08 video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mxmPlUhWqI&feature=related
Search: So what is sustainability? 1:27 video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5NiTN0chj0
Search: Sustainability explained through animation 2:02 video
http://xkcd.com/1007/ a comic
http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/sustainable.png
the same comic
www.blogs.jccc.edu\sustainability
www.jccc.edu/photo_stories/2012/0409-jason-kovac-officeless
www.epa.gov
www.sciencedaily.com
www.iawind.org/news-events/iowa-wind-farms.pdf
www.gereports.com/electric-harvest/
www.snagfilms.com/films/title/the_waterkeepers
www.snagfilms.com/films/title/blind_spot
www.snagfilms.com/films/title/human_footprint
Web Searches
Suggestion: search under “Environmental
Science” as well as “Sustainability”.
What sources have you found?
Sustainability Comic
Thank you
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• the list of Web Searches and
• the list of Questions/Problems/Exercises.