Taught by

• TBD

This introductory program integrates first-year calculus and calculus-based physics with topics from relevant areas of history and scientific literature to explore how scientists make sense of, and intervene in, the natural and human-created worlds. Students will be supported to develop a firm background in college-level science, becoming prepared for further work in the mathematical and physical sciences.

Scientists gather data, make observations, look for patterns, build models, and use those models to predict behavior. Powerful models in physics help us explain interactions involving matter and energy; such understanding forms the essential background for our modern technological society. New models require new mathematical methods—for example, calculus was developed partly to understand models of motion. Even with powerful mathematics, a model may yield answers only in simplified circumstances. We can analyze more complicated physical systems by simulating them on a computer. Learning how to create and apply mathematical and computational methods to models in physics will be one of the major goals of this program.

The program will have a significant collaborative laboratory component to explore and analyze the nature of mathematical and physical systems. Workshops and seminar discussions will also allow for collaborative work on math and physics problems as well as an opportunity to explore connections between history, theory, and practice. The program is intended for students with solid high school-level backgrounds in science and mathematics; in particular, a good grasp of precalculus (including algebra and trigonometry) is required. Equally important for success, however, will be a commitment to working hard and learning effectively in groups.

The work will be intensive and challenging, but also exciting; students should expect to spend at least 50 hours per week engaged with material during and outside of class. The program will include readings, lectures, labs, workshops, seminars, projects, frequent homework sets, quizzes, and exams; students will have multiple opportunities to demonstrate the knowledge they have gained in each of these settings. Students who successfully complete all three quarters of the program will have covered material equivalent to a year of calculus and calculus-based physics with lab, along with several courses in history and philosophy of math and physics, and will be prepared for upper-division work in mathematics and physics.

Quarters

Fall Open Winter Signature Spring Signature

Location and Schedule

Campus Location

Olympia

Time Offered

Day