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CATEGORY 3: NATURAL SCIENCE

(requires two courses - students are encouraged to take them from different disciplines - 7 or more credits; at least one course must have a laboratory component)

Goal: To improve students' understanding of natural science principles and of the methods of scientific inquiry, i.e., the ways in which scientists investigate natural science phenomena. As a basis for lifelong learning, students need to know the vocabulary of science and to realize that while a set of principles has been developed through the work of previous scientists, ongoing scientific inquiry and new knowledge will bring changes in some of the ways scientists view the world. By studying the problems that engage today's scientists, students learn to appreciate the importance of science in their lives and to understand the value of a scientific perspective. Students are encouraged to study both the biological and physical sciences.

Student Competencies:

Students will be able to

• practice the critical thinking skills associated with the scientific process, including analysis, creation and testing of hypotheses, assessing results, and offering interpretation of results.
• demonstrate understanding of scientific theories.
• formulate and test hypotheses by performing laboratory, simulation, or field experiments in at least two of the natural science disciplines. One of these experimental components should develop, in greater depth, students' laboratory experience in the collection of data, its statistical and graphical analysis, and an appreciation of its sources of error and uncertainty.
• communicate their experimental findings, analyses, and interpretations both orally and in writing.
• evaluate societal issues from a natural science perspective, ask questions about the evidence presented, and make informed judgments about science-related topics and politics.

Courses which satisfy this category include

BIOL 1110: General Biology: Form and Function (4 credits) (LC)

BIOL 1120: General biology: Evolution and Ecology (3 credits)

BIOL 1210: Introductory Biology: Botany (4 credits) (LC)

BIOL 1220: Introductory Biology: Zoology (4 credits) (LC)

CHEM 1100: Consumer Chemistry (3 credits)

CHEM 1111: General Chemistry I (4 credits) (LC)

CHEM 1112: General Chemistry II (4 credits) (LC)

CHEM 1211: Principles of Chemistry I (4 credits) (LC)

CHEM 1212: Principles of Chemistry II (4 credits) (LC)

GEOG 2100: Introduction to Physical Geography (3 credits)

GEOL 1110: Physical Geology (4 credits) (LC)

GEOL 1120: Historical Geology (4 credits) (LC)

GEOL 2730: Introduction to Planetary Science (4 credits)

GEOL 3430*: Introduction to Oceanography (3 credits)

PHYS 1101: General Physics I (4 credits) (LC)

PHYS 1102: General Physics II (4 credits) (LC)

PHYS 2101: Physics I (5 credits) (LC)

PHYS 2102: Physics II (5 credits) (LC)

PHYS 2250: Musical Acoustics (3 credits)

SCI 1110: Physical Science I (4 credits) (LC)

SCI 1120: Physical Science II (4 credits) (LC)

SCI 2100: Astronomy (3 credits)

SCI 2200: Meteorology (3 credits)

OTHERS:

*This course will satisfy Liberal Education at BSU, but does not qualify for inclusion in the Minnesota Transfer Curriculum as currently interpreted by MnSCU, and may not be accepted as a Liberal Education course at other MnSCU institutions or the University of Minnesota.