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SCI 111
Spring 2001

Instructors:

General Information

Four Major Goals

1.) To introduce you to how science is conducted.

2.) To improve your understanding of major ideas in science

3.) To illustrate how scientific discovery crosses disciplinary boundaries

4.) To increase your awareness of current scientific issues and of the importance of scientific literacy to understanding and resolving issues.

This course is intended for non-science majors, and has SCI 110 as a prerequisite. If you have not taken SCI 110, you may enroll in the course with permission of the instructors.

The course has two 3-hour class meetings per week, which will allow you and the instructors to employ a workshop approach to learning about science. Large blocks of time provide the flexibility that is necessary in a course of this type. Some meetings may be entirely devoted to one experiment, while most will be a combination of class discussion, student presentation, lecture, computer work, observation, and problem solving.

Text: There is no formal text for this class. Journal articles, newspaper articles, internet sites, and handouts will be used to supplement class discussion. The instructors are developing a course web page, which will serve several of the functions of a text.

Grade: Your grade will be based on your performance on exams, quizzes, homework assignments, class activities, projects, and presentations. A total possible 1000 course points will be allocated in the following manner:

EXAMS: total 600 points. Mixed format.

Exam 1: February 5, worth 150 points

Exam 2: March 7, worth 150 points

Exam 3: April 9, worth 150 points

Final Exam: May 7, worth either 150 or 300 points, ½ comprehensive

Final Project: 100 points

Homework/lab activities/quizzes: many of these will be completed during class time, some will involve research/writing on your own: total 300 points.

 

Letter Grade: 90-100% = A, 80-89% = B, 70-79% = C, 60-69% = D, below 60% = F

List of Major Topics

1. The nature of light
2. Photosynthesis
3. Respiration
4. Combustion
5. Greenhouse gases and global temperature
6. Human reproduction: anatomy and physiology
7. Birth control: mechanisms, effectiveness, concerns
8. Demography: the demographic transition
9. Current human population trends
10. DNA structure and replication
11. RNA and protein synthesis
12. Introduction to biotechnology
13. Biotechnology, medicine and agriculture
14. Cancer