school of social science - Hampshire College

NS 195
POLLUTION AND OUR ENVIRONMENT
Dula Amarasiriwardena
This course will explore environmental pollution
problems covering four major areas: the atmosphere. the
hydrosphere, the biosphere. and energy issues. Several
controversial topics, including acid rain, automobile emission,
ozone layer depletion, mercury. lead and cadmium poisoning,
pesticides. solid waste disposal, and problems of noise and
thermal pollution. will be addressed. We will emphasize some
of the environmental issues affecting our immediate community.
as well as those in Third World nations. We will also do
several project-based labs, gain understanding of scientific
methodology, and learn how to write scientific research reports,
Students are expected to engage in scientific inquiry and
to view their investigations in broader context, gain a clear
sense of the scientific process, and develop quantitative and
oral and written communication skills. Class participation,
satisfactory work on the required problem sets, literature
critiques, and class projects are required for evaluation. Class
will meet for one hour and twenty minutes twice a week and
one afternoon per week for lab or field trips. Enrollment is
limited to 20.
NS 198
EVER SINCE DARWIN
Lynn Miller
"Getting tired of being human is a very human habit. " -R.
Dubois. In the last few years, a number of authors have
attempted to reduce human history to genetic principles or
biologically fixed sexual differences in human behavior that
keep men and women in separate groups. These simplistic
arguments were invented more than one hundred years ago by
those who misread or misinterpreted Darwin's ideas. To think·
about these arguments, we will read and discuss a small
sample of the literature of the past 120 years on the explanations
of the behavior of Homo sapiens. We will read essays by
Stephen J. Gould and papers about our close relatives, the
primates.
For an evaluation, students are expected to write three
short essays and to give an oral presentation to the class
during the term. Students who finish the three essays and class
presentation on time usually can finish an Natural Science
Division I exam by the end of the term or early in the next
term. Class will meet twice a week for one hour and twenty
minutes.
NS 202
CHEMISTRY I
Dula Amarasiriwardena
In this course we will learn the fundamental chemical
concepts of composition and stoichiometry, properties of
matter I atomic structure. bonding and molecular structure,
chemical reactions, and energy changes in chemical reactions.
Considerable time will be devoted to learning the use of the
periodic table as a way of predicting the chemical properties of
elements. We will also emphasize application of those
chemical principles to environmemal, biological, industrial,
and day-to-day life situations. No previous background in
chemistry is necessary, but a working knowledge of algebra is
essential both because students will be expected to develop
skill in solving a variety of numerical problems and because it
is essential for understanding some of the subject matter.
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In the laboratory, basic skills and techniques of qualitative
and quantitative analysis, as well as use of novel chemical
instrumentation will be emphasized. We will also do twO
project-based labs. learn to understand the scientific methodology,
and learn how to write scientific research reports.
Class will meet for one hour and twenty minutes three
times a week, and laboratory will meet one afternoon per
week. Chemistry I is the first term of a two-term course in
general chemistry. Enrollment is limited to 25.
NS 240
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL SCIENCE WORKSHOP
Merle Bruno
Young children are full of questions about the natural
world. They ask. watch, listen, and are open to new interpretations
of what they see. They are. in fact. good little scientists.
Why is it that most American children (and particularly
girls and children from ethnic minority groups) lose interest
in science as they reach upper elementary grades? What
approaches to teaching science can maintain and build on
children's natural curiosity and energy?
In this workshop, we will use materials that have been
designed to stimulate children's curiosity and to nurture
scientific skills. For the first few weeks, you will be the
students and will try [0 understand some of the feelings that
children experience in a science class designed to stimulate
inquiry. You will be encouraged to follow up on your own
questions and conduct your own studies about movements of
the sun (or moon), crayfish behavior, mystery powders,
batteries and bulbs, milkweed bugs, or pond water. For the
last part of the semester, you will also be teachers and will
introduce these same materials [0 children in elementary
school classrooms.
Class will meet for two hours twice a week. and considerable
additional time will be required when you begin teaching
in the schools.
NS/CCS 243
BRAIN AND BEHAVIOR
Michelle Murrain/Christopher Chase
See description CCS/NS 243
NS 247
CELL BIOLOGY
Christopher Jarvis
If each of us begins as a single cell, how do we end up as
such a complex multicellular organism, and how do our
cellular communities talk to one another? The study of a
single cell will bring us many insights, although equally as
many mysteries will arise. Twenty years ago we thought the
understanding of the genetic material would reveal many of
the answers to life. We now realize that even a single cell is
more ingenious and complex than the most powerful computers.
We will explore the mystery of replication and namral
selection. as well as the importance of cellular communication.
The breakdown of the controlled state that results in
cancer will also be considered.
Class will meet for one hour and twenty minutes twice a
week and for a weekly four-hour lab. Enrollment is limited to
20.