The MAT Sciences Program is designed to provide students the opportunity to revisit scientific concepts and issues and build more profound understandings. Topics covered will be from an array of areas such as environment, physics, and chemistry. The concentration is on conceptual and qualitative understanding and for issues that are known to confuse school students leading to common misconceptions. Moreover, emphasis is placed on practical applications across the different science branches in courses and ultimately in the Academic Research Project which involves experimental research in a chosen area.
Environmental Sciences 9203524 (4 Credits)
This course is designed to provide students with some of the most pressing environmental issues of our time, as well as some of the efforts being made to address them at the local, regional and global scale. The course is designed to introduce scientific principles and problem solving techniques used to evaluate the effects of human activities on the environment. Topics will include the sustainability and stewardship of natural resources, natural and anthropogenic environmental hazards such as air and water pollution, as well as population and urbanization. The course will examine various efforts being made to address the most challenging environmental issues such as global warming and also how to prevent negative environmental impacts through complete re-thinking of the way we produce, consume and dispose of the products we use every day. It will bring to these particular students whom by themselves are teachers, the very real and growing environmental challenges we face in the years ahead, It will raise their awareness of exciting efforts being made to address environmental problems throughout the world, and empower them, even slightly, to join in these efforts toward positive change.
Concepts in Physics 9203523 (4 Credits)
This course is designed to explain physical concepts in physics/chemistry and to present examples for both the ideas and the methods such as: gravitational force, Electromagnetic radiations, energy, light, particles identity, Heisenberg uncertainty principle, field theory, resonance phenomena, transition probability and special relativity.
In this course the concentration is on conceptual and qualitative understanding and for issues that are known to confuse students is discussed with care. In addition, more emphasis is placed on practical applications across the different science branches. Technology will be addressed in the context of electricity, magnetism, wave and optics. The course gives an account of the role of perception in the developments of our scientific thinking and introduces new understanding for space and time in different limited domains.
Concepts in Chemistry 9203525 (4 Credits)
Chemistry is the study of the structure and the transformations of materials. It takes the fundamental ideas of mathematics and physics, adapts them to chemical systems. This course aims to provide future teachers with hands-on experience in conducting laboratory experiments, demonstrations, and teaching strategies. Different topics will be covered and discussed including atomic theory, structure of molecules/modeling, the qualitative and quantitative aspects of chemical reactions, including balancing equations, stoichiometry, solution chemistry, acids and bases, energy, the laws of thermodynamics, combustion, bond energies, heats of reaction and oxidation-reduction. All these concepts aim to prepare students for a class demonstration final project.
Limnology and Oceanography 9203513 (4 Credits)
This course provides an investigation to the biological, physical and chemical properties of Oceans and lakes, light in aquatic environment and nutrient limitation. The course is taught at an ecosystem level, i.e., processes and concepts are emphasized. Human impacts will also be considered. Field trip is designed to train students in field and laboratory techniques. This includes the use of sampling equipment and procedures to identify and quantify aquatic organisms, and for characterizing the physical and chemical properties of Surface water.
Special Topics in General Sciences 9203563 (4 Credits)
This course is designed to focus on selected special topics in general sciences.
