Elective Courses Offered At
The Governor's School



There are six different elective courses which students can choose to participate in this summer at the PGSS. These include courses which emphasize the connections between science, the arts, and the humanities, such as: Art and Science and Philosophy of Science . They also include exciting courses focusing on: Astrophysics , Developmental Biology , and mathematics -- including both a Mathematics Lab and a Mathematics Problem Seminar . Complete descriptions of all of these elective courses may be found below.



E1 ART and SCIENCE
Instructor: Patricia Maurides

This course offers students the opportunity to explore relationships between art and science. This involves discussions surrounding a historical perspective and hands-on experience. The students learn the computer program Adobe Photoshop which is used as the major tool to create art integrating scientific and personal imagery. Classes involve 'studio time' for creating work and group critiques with other students in the class. This course offers students a chance to acknowledge and nurture their own creative talents. Class size is limited to 20 students.



E2 ASTROPHYSICS
Instructor: John Stein

This year the focus is on Stellar Astrophysics but will include a special lecture on the search for intelligent life in the universe (SETI). Through a series of lectures, you will examine the life cycles of the stars from their births in giant molecular clouds to their deaths which leaves them white dwarfs, neutron stars or black holes. Several observing activities designed to show you how astronomers gather their data are planned. Following class (weather permitting), optional observing sessions will be held using a Meade LX200 reflecting telescope of 10-inch aperture. You will also complete a number of selected "observing" projects using PGSS's astrophysical observatory simulator software: Crystal Lake Observatory. Should you wish, you may make a copy of this software to take home from Governor's School. Both IBM and Macintosh versions are available.

Here are some Web sites related to Astronomy and Astrophysics:


E3 DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY
Instructor: John Pollock

This course is a survey of selected topics in Developmental Biology. What that means is that we will cover just a few aspects of developmental biology, touching on issues that are currently in the scientific news. We will also discuss some of the experimental techniques used in the study of organismal development. Topics will include Fertilization (beginning of a new organism), Gastrulation (migration and reorganization of the embryo) and Neurulation (ectodermal induction of the neural tube). Finally, we will talk about the development of limbs and the development of eyes.

The focus of the course is on how a scientist discovers how an egg grows up to be a multicellular, behaving organism. The study of "simple" organisms can tell us a great deal about how all organisms develop. As such, in this class, we will study aspects of the development of many different organisms including worms, flies, frogs, fish and mammals.

Here are some Web sites related to Developmental Biology:


E4 MATHEMATICS LAB
Instructor: Neil Simonetti

At the first level, the Mathematics Lab is intended to introduce to the students the symbolic algebra computer package, an important modern tool for mathematical discovery. While developing topics related to the PGSS Mathematics Core Course, students will become acquainted with this mathematical technology, in a manner which promotes the rigorous exposition of data, conjectures, and results in the form of laboratory reports. Students completing the course will grow in their familiarity with this method of mathematical research.

Here is a Web site related to the Mathematics Laboratory:


E5 MATHEMATICS PROBLEM SEMINAR
Instructor: Juan Schaffer

Imagination in analyzing a problem and conjecturing a solution, a clear view of what constitutes a valid argument, precision and good style in presenting results - these are some of the talents and skills that are fundamental to the practice of mathematics and its applications. This course will attempt to bring out these talents and skills through an assortment of problems for students to investigate, solve, and present. The subject-matter of the problems is not expected to require any special preparation, the emphasis being on insight rather than on book-learning. We hope to convey some of the joy of personal discovery, as well as to develop the students' critical and self-critical faculties.

The usual sequence will be: setting of the problem and explanation of context, if necessary; hints, sometimes (students may opt not to listen to these); presentation of solutions at the blackboard (to a chorus of prodding, guidance, and criticism from other students and the instructor); discussion; careful written presentation of good solutions (the student's own or that of others); comments by the instructor. Teamwork is definitely encouraged, with the understanding that work will be correctly attributed to its originators.

Sample Problem 1 (a "quickie"): In a - mammoth - elimination singles tennis tournament there are 693 players. How many matches will the tournament consist of?

Sample Problem 2: A finite set of circles is given in the plane. Can one always color the regions into which the plane is divided by the circles, using only two colors, in such a way that adjacent regions (i.e., sharing some arc in their boundaries) are never of the same color?



E6 PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE
Instructor: Andrea Woody

This course will begin with two of the most basic questions underlying scientific practice: (1) What is "science"? Is it a subject matter, a methodology, a business? In other words, how is science to be differentiated from other methods of inquiry or "knowing"? This is typically called the demarcation question. (2) What does it mean to say that an observation or a piece of data is "evidence" for a theory? What types of evidence can we hope to gather from the world and how much can this evidence constrain the theories which we develop?

After discussion these issues (which are some of the most challenging for contemporary philosophers of science), we will turn to questions specific to particular sciences. The issues considered will be determined to a large extent by the preferences of the course participants. Some potential topics include the scientific status of evolutionary theory (particularly in relation to our answers to question 1 above), the measurement problem in quantum mechanics, the debate between relational and absolute interpretations of spacetime structure, and ethical issues raised by the developments of biotechnology and medicine.

Class will be a combination of lecture and discussion. Some reading materials will be provided to give the participants further insight into these issues. Most basically, we will be trying to think critically about science--similar to the way we try to think critically when we are learning or doing science.

If you are interested in the Philosophy of Science, you might want to check out these two computer bulletin boards:

netnews.sci.philosophy.meta

netnews.sci.philosophy.tech



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