Math Modeling Club

When: Friday, Feb 28th from 4:30—6:00pm
Where: Farish Hall Room 232

This Week's Topic: "How fast should a bird fly when migrating?"

Birds fly a considerable distance when migrating. For example, the grey-cheeked thrush, which is often seen in Alaska, travels to the Colombia-Ecuador region for the winter. That is roughly 5,600 miles. These birds migrate to be as far away as possible from the cold weather and they start their journey with a finite source of energy, their body fat.

We will try to find what is the best way for them to spend this energy. Since this energy is limited, and since every hour in the air uses some of it, they should not travel too slowly, otherwise the distance travelled will not be considerable. On the other hand, the power required to resist the drag of the air increases with the speed, so that they must not travel too quickly either. So, how fast should these birds fly?

Faculty Organizer: Dr. Gabriela Jaramillo