PHYS 1001W -- Changes

Tue Aug 18 15:29:14 2009

Criteria for Theme Courses:	Describe how the course meets the specific bullet points for the proposed theme requirement. Give concrete and detailed examples for the course syllabus, detailed outline, laboratory material, student projects, or other instructional materials or methods. Theme courses have the common goal of cultivating in students a number of habits of mind: thinking ethically about important challenges facing our society and world; reflecting on the shared sense of responsibility required to build and maintain community; connecting knowledge and practice; fostering a stronger sense of our roles as historical agents. New: This class satisfies the University of Minnesota Liberal Education requirement of the Environment Theme. Informed decisions regarding the environment cannot be made without an understanding of the scientific issues related to the transformation of energy from one form to another. The physical principles associated with energy transformation in human society, including the release of chemical energy in the combustion of fossil fuels, and in nuclear power plants will be elucidated. These processes involve by-products that have a significant impact on the environment and raise serious human health issues. By addressing the physical mechanisms by which these reactions are involved in the generation of electrical power, students will improve their understanding of the costs and benefits of these methods of energy production. Students will be able to assess the costs and benefits of a wide range of energy alternatives and their impact on the environment. Electrical power is created in direct response to human needs, and issues such as the transmission of electrical power from the point of production, and the physical constraints that determine where the power is created, to the end user will be addressed. The basic science associated with human energy transformation and utilization, and the resulting impact of these mechanisms on the environment, will be described. Topics to be covered will include classical mechanics, electricity and magnetism, thermodynamics and phase transitions, meteorology, basic modern physics as it relates to chemical reactions and solar cells, and atomic and nuclear physics. Any credible approach to addressing environmental issues associated with energy production will require a working knowledge of these scientific principles. The technology underlying alternative energy production by solar cells and wind power will be examined and their benefits and limitations will be discussed. Scientific issues related to electric power transmission via power lines, climate change and the hazards of radioactivity will be examined. The ability of public policy to address environmental issues arising from energy production, and the physical constraints associated with differing means of energy production, will be discussed. The laboratory associated with this class is an important component of illustrating how scientific knowledge is created and the accuracy and uncertainties associated with measurements. This instruction of the physical science “ways of knowing” will be reinforced through the classroom lectures. In this way students will be better able to assess claims of scientific study of the impact of various means of energy production, and its impact on the environment. This class will provide students with an introduction to fundamental principles that will enable them to critically evaluate public debates concerning energy and the environment, giving them the foundation on which informed decisions concerning the environment can be made. Ethical issues, such as in the treatment of acid rain, where the environmental impact occurs some distance from the energy production point, will be addressed. How we as a society will balance the costs and benefits of generating electrical power, and the criteria on which such decisions can be made, will be explicitly discussed. Old: This class satisfies the University of Minnesota Liberal Education requirement of the Environment Theme. Informed decisions regarding the environment cannot be made without an understanding of the scientific issues related to the transformation of energy from one form to another. By addressing the basic science associated with human energy transformation and utilization, students will be able to assess the costs and benefits of a wide range of energy alternatives and their impact on the environment. The physical principles associated with energy transformation in human society, including the release of chemical energy in the combustion of fossil fuels, in hydro-electric dams, in geothermal or nuclear power plants will be elucidated. The technology underlying alternative energy production by solar cells and wind power will be examined and their benefits and limitations will be discussed. Scientific issues related to electric power transmission via power lines, climate change and the hazards of radioactivity will be examined. This class will provide students with an introduction to fundamental principles that will enable them to critically evaluate public debates concerning energy and the environment, giving them the foundation on which informed decisions concerning the environment can be made.

Criteria for
Theme Courses:

Describe how the course meets the specific bullet points for the proposed theme requirement. Give concrete and detailed examples for the course syllabus, detailed outline, laboratory material, student projects, or other instructional materials or methods.

Theme courses have the common goal of cultivating in students a number of habits of mind:

thinking ethically about important challenges facing our society and world;
reflecting on the shared sense of responsibility required to build and maintain community;
connecting knowledge and practice;
fostering a stronger sense of our roles as historical agents.

New: This class satisfies the University of Minnesota Liberal Education requirement of the Environment Theme. Informed decisions regarding the environment cannot be made without an understanding of the scientific issues related to the transformation of energy from one form to another.

The physical principles associated with energy transformation in human society, including the release of chemical energy in the combustion of fossil fuels, and in nuclear power plants will be elucidated. These processes involve by-products that have a significant impact on the environment and raise serious human health issues. By addressing the physical mechanisms by which these reactions are involved in the generation of electrical power, students will improve their understanding of the costs and benefits of these methods of energy production.

Students will be able to assess the costs and benefits of a wide range of energy alternatives and their impact on the environment. Electrical power is created in direct response to human needs, and issues such as the transmission of electrical power from the point of production, and the physical constraints that determine where the power is created, to the end user will be addressed.

The basic science associated with human energy transformation and utilization, and the resulting impact of these mechanisms on the environment, will be described. Topics to be covered will include classical mechanics, electricity and magnetism, thermodynamics and phase transitions, meteorology, basic modern physics as it relates to chemical reactions and solar cells, and atomic and nuclear physics. Any credible approach to addressing environmental issues associated with energy production will require a working knowledge of these scientific principles.

The technology underlying alternative energy production by solar cells and wind power will be examined and their benefits and limitations will be discussed. Scientific issues related to electric power transmission via power lines, climate change and the hazards of radioactivity will be examined. The ability of public policy to address environmental issues arising from energy production, and the physical constraints associated with differing means of energy production, will be discussed.

The laboratory associated with this class is an important component of illustrating how scientific knowledge is created and the accuracy and uncertainties associated with measurements. This instruction of the physical science “ways of knowing” will be reinforced through the classroom lectures. In this way students will be better able to assess claims of scientific study of the impact of various means of energy production, and its impact on the environment.

This class will provide students with an introduction to fundamental principles that will enable them to critically evaluate public debates concerning energy and the environment, giving them the foundation on which informed decisions concerning the environment can be made. Ethical issues, such as in the treatment of acid rain, where the environmental impact occurs some distance from the energy production point, will be addressed. How we as a society will balance the costs and benefits of generating electrical power, and the criteria on which such decisions can be made, will be explicitly discussed.

Old: This class satisfies the University of Minnesota Liberal Education requirement of the Environment Theme. Informed decisions regarding the environment cannot be made without an understanding of the scientific issues related to the transformation of energy from one form to another.
By addressing the basic science associated with human energy transformation and utilization, students will be able to assess the costs and benefits of a wide range of energy alternatives and their impact on the environment.
The physical principles associated with energy transformation in human society, including the release of chemical energy in the combustion of fossil fuels, in hydro-electric dams, in geothermal or nuclear power plants will be elucidated. The technology underlying alternative energy production by solar cells and wind power will be examined and their benefits and limitations will be discussed. Scientific issues related to electric power transmission via power lines, climate change and the hazards of radioactivity will be examined. This class will provide students with an introduction to fundamental principles that will enable them to critically evaluate public debates concerning energy and the environment, giving them the foundation on which informed decisions concerning the environment can be made.