NATURAL SCIENCE
SAMPLE COURSE DESCRIPTION

GS- EAST

Science does not exist in a vacuum. There is a social interface to every facet of science, however small. Since very little of the social side of science is discussed in high school and college science classes, Governor's School students examine that interface in several areas. Special consideration is given to the types of lifestyles that can exist with a sustainable environment.

Natural Science is usually divided into four areas:

• Biology ("Topics in Behavioral Invertebrate Zoology"),
• Geology ("Mining, Energy, and Natural Disasters as They Relate to Geology and Everyday Life"),
• Chemistry 1 ("The Chemistry of Energy") and
• Chemistry 2 ("A Hands-On Laboratory Course in Organic Chemistry").

GS-WEST

Science Improv: How To Create Your Own Theory

This class will be investigating how we create, evaluate and accept or reject scientific theories by replicating the process in classroom discussions and through readings from the history and philosophy of science.

Special Relativity

The Lorentz transformations are used to explore the consequences of Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity. Lorentz diagrams are used to explain the transformations of space, time and mass. The mass-energy equivalence is derived and examined.

Neuroscience

Our human experience is so smooth and flawless that it's very difficult for us to realize that different parts of the brain do different things. We will study different parts of the human brain by reading primary scientific literature and Oliver Sacks's elegant case studies of patients who have brain damage. Then we will dive down below the level of "chunks of tissue" to individual neural circuits. We will study these by building models of them on computers and watching what they do. These loops will lead us into discussions of identity and Douglas Hofstadter's I Am a Strange Loop. We will also try to change our own brains with a couple of simple manipulations of sensory input. This will lead into the theory of memes, or contagious ideas.

Bioethical Frontiers

Through role-playing, debate, and dialogue, students collectively analyze contentious personal and societal dilemmas emerging from the frontier of biomedical research. Technological advances such as genetic testing, stem cell research, genetically modified foods, in-vitro embryo testing and selection, and other topics are researched & debated to tease out the ethical principles involved. Students interactively discuss these issues in the context of personal values, medical ethics, political activism, and the legal system. The goal of this class is to equip each student with the background to begin building a dynamic, growing point of view on complex issues to facilitate good decision-making.

Connections

The course theme is "connections and relationships between nature and the global citizen." The course explores principles and ideas of the place of humanity in nature and the place of nature in humanity. This exploration occurs through a series of stories, laboratories, research efforts, and field trips that are concerned with what the global citizen needs to know to think and work with authority about human interactions with nature.

The 'need to know' principles and ideas are explored in three parts:

• Part I explores answers to the question of 'What is Nature?'
• Part II is concerned with basic principles of Ecology and their applications with respect to human impacts on ecological structure and function.
• Part III explores the interaction of evolutionary forces on ecological structure and function.

The course concludes with presentations of student research studies and a student classroom essay on the story they have learned about natural science.