This article describes our modeling approach to teaching the one-dimensional heat (diffusion) equation in a one-semester undergraduate partial differential equations course. We constructed the apparatus for a demonstration of heat diffusion through a long, thin metal rod with prescribed temperatures at each end. The students observed the physical…

St. Olaf College recently added a Mathematical Biology concentration to its curriculum. The core course, Mathematics of Biology, was redesigned to include a wet laboratory. The lab classes required students to collect data and implement the essential modeling techniques of formulation, implementation, validation, and analysis. The four labs…