Course Descriptions

PHYS 113 Scientific Analysis for Elementary School Teachers (4). F and S, Core: The Natural World. This course integrates life, earth, and physical science, as well as the process of science, at a level that is appropriate for those planning to teach at the elementary level. Students gain the skills and content mastery necessary for engaging in inquiry-based science at the elementary level. Topics covered include the development of evidence in scientific investigations, the process of scientific analysis through framing scientific questions and conducting experiments, and solving scientific problems. These scientific processes are analyzed and discussed in terms of their limits and their relevancy to a Christian perspective of the world and science. Prerequisites: Physics 112. Elementary-education students pursuing a science minor should take Physics 212 instead of this course.

PHYS 212 Inquiry-Based Physics (4). F. Core: The Natural World. This course provides a hands-on study of important concepts in physics. The course is designed specifically to meet the needs of teacher-education students who wish to be elementary- or middle-school science specialists, but is open to other students who satisfy the prerequisites. Topics covered include mechanics (energy, force, friction, work, torque, momentum, and simple machines), pressure, waves, sound, light, resonance, electricity, magnetism, and radioactivity. Reflections on the nature of physical science and the physical world are included; connections to everyday experience and to technology are discussed. Prerequisite: Physics 112 or high-school physics.