Since this webpage is pretty long the following clickable cells can guide you to particular parts of it.
GENERAL NOTE ON THE READINGS: You are responsible for your own knowledge. The large classes (and discussion classes and laboratories) all have their own learning objectives, and you should read what you need to in order to understand the main points. Particularly with respect to driving questions 3 and 4, there is a lot of detail in the readings, and keep in mind that the focus of this course is on understanding some big ideas, not on memorizing a lot of detail.
| Date | Topic | Reading |
| 2/6 | Introducing Energy: The Bowling Ball Problem; introduction of energy chains | None to do before class; Tillery et al. ch 4 (background) |
| 2/8 | Introducing the Big Energy Problem; Understanding Motion via the Fossil Tracks Problem | Tillery ch 2 |
| 2/13 | Fossil Tracks Problem, page 2 | Tillery ch 2 |
| 2/15 | Finish Fossil Tracks problem (page 3). Summarize Fossil Tracks problem. Begin Barrier Crash Problem; Problem; introduction of learning issues | Tillery ch 3 |
| 2/20 | Barrier Crash problem page 2 (also known as the Flying YouDee problem) | |
| 2/22 | Finish Barrier Crash Problem, summarize what we learned from it | Tillery ch 4 |
| 2/27 | Return to the Big Energy Problem (Saturn advertisement) | |
| 3/1 | Big Energy Problem page 2; energy chains; Lecturette on Energy in Our World; review for the exam | Tillery ch 4 (p. 76, 82-85) |
| 3/5 | Harry's Hotline open in the evening; extra office hours for exam review. | |
| 3/6 | FIRST HOUR EXAM during regular class time. Bring a #2 pencil and an ID which looks like you. There will be an essay question. | |
| 3/8 | Validating Advertising Claims in the Saturn Problem |
The first two labs and the first three discussion sections are also part of Driving Question 1. See separate lab schedules and discusssion section schedules.
| 3/8 | What does electricity mean to you? Introduction of Big Electricity Problem ("Lights Out") and Identification of Learning Issues | Tillery ch 7 is all about electricity. I strongly recommend that you do NOT READ the stuff on electrical theory on pp. 146-153. What you need to know is that like charges repel and opposite charges attract. |
| 3/13 | Classification of Learning Issues. Addressing the practical learning issues: How your house is wired | see list of websites below for optional reading extensions; Tillery 154-158. |
| 3/15 | What is electricity? Currents and Voltage; AC and DC; Generators | Tillery 158-179. |
| 3/20 | How the electrons move in an electrical circuit: addressing misconceptions | |
| 3/22 | Science, Technology, and your Future. Computers as an example of how technology changes the world. | http://www.udel.edu/physics/scen102/00/HS/computing.future.htm |
| 3/27, 3/29 | NO CLASSES - SPRING BREAK | |
| 4/3 | Summary of what we've learned about electricity |
The two circuit labs, the magnetism lab, and the discussion sections on sound systems and magnetism are also part of Driving Question 2.
NOTE ON ELECTRICITY READINGS: Tillery ch 9 lists 25 words which you are supposed to know about electricity (p. 179). This is 6 words per large class or approximately 1 word every 10 minutes, more than you would learn in a foreign language course. The terms you NEED TO KNOW from that list are:
alternating current, amp or ampere, direct current, electric circuit, electric generator, electrical conductors, electromagnetic induction, electromagnet, volt, watt (10 concepts).
For review, focus on the big ideas which are listed on the overhead at the beginning of the large class (see overheads.htm).
Some websites on electricity can be used to answer any further questions you might have. .
Two websites, which provide good, practical information on electricity, are:
http://www.landfield.com/faqs/electrical-wiring/part1/preamble.html is a website which lists a whole bunch of questions regarding how your house is wired. Much of this is addressed to the practicing electrician or the person who wants to repair her or his home circuits. You can click on particular questions and get some answers.
http://www.codecheck.com/electric_links.htm#general is a website which links to a bunch of other websites that contain some information or animations on electricity. Some of them are really quite interesting - I've listed two below. Some, unfortunately, don't work any more; such is the fate of many sites which link to others.
Some people in this class, and many people in earlier classes, have asked about how many volts can kill you. The following two websites contain more information than you perhaps ever wanted to know about this topic:
http://www.codecheck.com/ecution.htm has a rather interesting animation about what can happen when household current runs through you.
http://www.paonline.com/rmeyer32.asktech6.htm is a very information-dense website on what's safe and what is not. Apparently even 30 volts can be dangerous if it has direct access to the conductive parts of your body, through open wounds. The voltages we deal with in this course (maximum 6 volts in lab, 9 volts when I test the battery in the cordless mike with my tongue) are certainly not high enough to be fatal.
| 4/3 | Introduction to this module | |
| 4/5 | Classifying elements: Metals, Nonmetals, and the Periodic Table | Tillery ch 10. Important pages are 232-234, 245-249. |
| 4/10 | Combustion: the Pringles Can Problem | Note that preliminary
lunar log is due.
READING: Chapters 11 and 12 cover a whole bunch of chemical reactions including combustion. Helpful pages might be 256-257, 286-288. |
| 4/12 | Technology: the Development of Nylon | "The Nylon Drama,"
by David Hounshell
and John Kenly
Smith, available at
http://www.edc.org/CCT/lemcen/u7sf/u7materials/nylondrama.html
Tillery ch 14 has a few pages which you might find supportive: pp. 332-333 describe what a polymer is, and pp. 333-335 and 340-341 list some polymers which we use. For more reading on nylon, see the websites listed below. |
| 4/17 | The Human Genome | There is a written assignment due in the large class today. Reading: two websites on the Human Genome project. |
| 4/19 | Atoms, Molecules, and the scale of the Universe. Review for Hour Exam | The focus here is going to be on how large atoms are. Tillery ch 9, pp. 209-213, covers this, along with some other historical details which are not important to our story. The earth in space is covered in pp. 435-438 of chapter 18. |
| 4/24 | Second Hour Exam during regular class time. Covers all classes since March 6, including all classes under "Driving Question 2" and "Driving Question 3", including big classes, discussions, and labs. There may be one question about the follow-up to the Saturn problem. |
This driving question also includes the discussions from 4/2-4/5, 4/9-4/12 (indirectly), and 4/16-4/20, and the labs during the month of April.
NOTE ON THE READINGS: In contrast to the previous two driving questions, there is a lot of reading on this topic. You are only responsible for understanding the big ideas which are introduced in the large class and in discussions. But since I am teaching for understanding and not for recall knowledge, I expect you to be very familiar with the big ideas, the reasons that scientists accept those big ideas, and the real-world applications which follow from those big ideas. If you are uncertain about what big ideas are part of the course, see http://overheads.htm .
CHEMISTRY VOCABULARY WORDS: The number of words at the ends of the chapters is absolutely unbelievably large.
CHAPTER 9: If you have difficulty understanding how big an atom is or what it's made of, read the first few pages of chapter 9. Of the 18 vocabulary words in this chapter the only ones you need to understand are proton, neutron, and electron, and I sincerely hope you have seen these already.
Of the 27 words at the end of chapter 10 (p. 251), you should understand alkali metals, halogens, noble gases, and periodic table.
Chapters 11 and 12 are particularly difficult, given the emphasis of this course on understanding one particular reaction rather than on memorizing a whole bunch of different kinds of reactions. Of the 22 terms at the end of chapter 11 (p. 274), you should understand atom, molecule, chemical reaction, and chemical energy. Of the 19 terms at the end of chapter 12 (p. 296), there is none that you should understand, but you should understand that combustion or burning is an oxidation reaction, the combination of something with oxygen.
Chapter 14 is also difficult since we are interested in the invention and use of one particular organic molecule (nylon) rather than on the naming and classification of many different kinds of organic molecule. By far the most important reading is "The Nylon Drama." - on the website listed here and above:
Of the 24 words in the Chapter 14 vocabulary list, the only one which you need to understand is "polymer."
Chapters 9-14 contain 110 vocabulary words, about the number that is covered in a couple of months' instruction in a foreign language. Thus a traditional science course as represented by this book introduces more foreign words than a foreign language course does. As noted above, I have severely pruned this list to a much more manageable list of 12 concepts that you should really understand.
http://www.edc.org/CCT/lemcen/u7sf/u7materials/nylondrama.html is an article which everyone in the class should read. It is from a rather unusual history of technology - where the historians gained access to corporate archives, but did not need to submit their book to the company for approval before it was published.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/dt35ny.html is a brief treatment of Wallace Carothers, the discoverer of nylon.
http://www.chemheritage.org/EducationalServices/nylon/nylon.html is a "virtual museum exhibit" on the nylon story, containing webpages showing a number of artifacts related to the development of nylon. The actual museum is located in Philadelphia.
http://www.psrc.usm.edu/macrog/lab/lab01.htm is a lab site for a much more advanced course than this. However, if you want to know how I made nylon in the classroom, here it is.
Human Genome Websites and Assignment
Read at least the following two web pages about the Human Genome Research Project. As you read them, keep your assigned task in mind; there is a lot of information, even in these two articles, which is not relevant to what you need to do.
YOUR ASSIGNMENT is to write a one-paragraph argument which either supports giving the Gates Award to the Human Genome researchers or argues against giving this award to the researchers. You will turn this assignment in at the beginning of class on April 17. Much of the class will be based on the discussion of this problem.
The William H. Gates Foundation is contemplating awarding a major prize at the end of the year 2001 which will commemorate a major scientific discovery made at the dawning of the new millennium. Your group has been given the task of deciding whether or not this award is to be given to Francis Collins and Craig Venter for their teams' developing a map of the Human Genome. The case for making this award is that the potential beneficial implications for biology and medicine are tremendous. The case against making this award is that there are some ethical issues regarding what will come from these discoveries.
During the large class, your group will be asked to make a recommendation and justify it. The first two articles listed in this email are articles that everyone should read.
For a brief article that states in not too many words what some of the positive implications of the sequencing of the human genome are, read:
http://www.jgi.doe.gov/tempweb/News/news_4_13_00.htm
(Note that there is an awful lot of stuff on the web about the human genome research project. I have selected an article which is readable by the ordinary person and which is forward-looking, describing what will follow from this research rather than bragging about what a particular research group has accomplished.)
For a description of the ethical concerns raised by some about the sequencing of the Human Genome, see
http://www.nhgri.nih.gov/About_NHGRI/Der/Elsi/high_priority.html
You are welcome to search the web for additional readings. If anyone finds a web page which is better than either of the above web pages, let me know. I am looking for articles which are:
-short
-readable by the average person
-focus on our key question, either by describing anticipated benefits of the Human Genome Research Project or by describing ethical concerns.
OPTIONAL READINGS that go beyond the above two articles but which do not fulfill the three criteria listed above:
For the Science magazine web site which refers to a lot of articles in the magazine about the project, see
http://www.sciencemag.org/feature/data/genomes/landmark.shl
For a somewhat more technical article on the background for the Human Genome Research Project, see
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/287/5459/1777
NOTE: The part of the article to focus on is the last one, "The Future: Global Views of Biology".
| 4/3 | Introduction to your lunar log; the Lunar Phases Problem. | |
| 4/10 | Your preliminary lunar log is due, if you take the option of doing your own lunar log. | |
| 4/26 | What is Science? Roger and Rachel's Cube Problem | |
| 5/1 | Structure of the Solar System, Galaxy, and Universe: the Copernican Revolution | |
| 5/3 | Where are we on the earth? A Western solution and a non-Western solution (Polynesian way-finding) | |
| 5/9 | LABORATORY FINAL EXAM IN THE BIG CLASS | |
| 5/11 | Wrapup of lunar phases; two theories of the origin of the Universe | |
| 5/16 | Using evidence to choose between the two theories of cosmic evolution |
Sharp-eyed students may have noticed that at the beginning of the course I said there would be five driving questions. The amount of time available for the fifth question turned out to be quite small, and so it was incorporated into driving question 4.