The theme of the semester? Energy. 

Why? The answer should be obvious. Energy is the dominant concern of our lives. From "What d’ya want for dinner?" to "How much did I just pay to fill my gastank?", energy is both the question and the answer.

As an American, you are a member of a culture that represents only 5% of the global population, yet consumes 25% of the world's energy. As the world's population increases, so does the demand for energy. Where is it all going to come from?

We both know that the only reason you are taking this class is because the university won't give you your degree without it. You may even think it's a ridiculous expectation on the part of the university, to make you take a physical science class. I know you don't want to be a scientist, and that's ok. But you live in a technological society. You cannot get through the day without using technology, the end product of science.

You owe it to yourself to know at least a little about how the world around you and the things within it operate. And you owe it everyone you care about (and everyone you have to share the planet with), to know enough about science and technology to make informed choices and decisions. Whether you are deciding who to vote for in the next election, whether to use bamboo or brazilian ipè for your new floor, or which medical treatment to choose, your decisions affect those around you.

• Define Problems/Questions: A statement or summary that identifies a problem or raises a question that is relevant to the topic or assignment, appropriate to the discipline, and open to empirical inquiry (i.e., objective observation).
• Propose Hypotheses: Formulating testable propositions that follow from one particular solution/answer to the problem/question.
• Identify Methodology: Selecting the appropriate set of procedures to test the hypotheses.
• Evaluate Results: An objective assessment of the hypotheses based on the empirical evidence gathered from the methodology.