Lesson Plan: Numerical Integration: Riemann Sums Mathematics • Higher Education
This lesson plan includes the objectives, prerequisites, and exclusions of the lesson teaching students how to use right, left, and midpoint Riemann sums to numerically approximate definite integrals.
Objectives
Students will be able to
- use left, right, and midpoint Riemann sums to approximate definite integrals,
- judge whether an approximation is an overestimate or an underestimate, depending on whether left or right Riemann sums are used, when the function in question is increasing or decreasing over the entire domain of integration.
Prerequisites
Students should already be familiar with
- right, left, and midpoint Riemann sums,
- the concept of a definite integral as a limit of Riemann sums.
Exclusions
Students will not cover
- the trapezoidal rule,
- evaluating definite integrals as antiderivatives.
