Biological Applications in the Mathematics Curriculum

Abstract

In this article we provide two detailed examples of how we incorporate biological examples into two mathematics courses: Linear Algebra and Ordinary Differential Equations. We use Leslie matrix models to demonstrate the biological properties of eigenvalues and eigenvectors. For Ordinary Differential Equations, we show how using a logistic growth prey differential equation with constant predator and corresponding functional responses can give meaningful interpretations to the resulting bifurcation diagrams. In closing, we offer several other examples of how biology can be incorporated in other upper level mathematics courses.

Keywords:

• Bifurcation diagram
• biology
• differential equations
• Leslie matrix
• linear algebra