This course provides laboratory work to complement the material of General Biology II. The experiments are designed to illustrate concepts of animal and plant anatomy and physiology, develop laboratory skills and techniques for experimenting with live organisms, and improve ability to make, record, and interpret observations.

Environmental issues are often difficult to address because stakeholders have different values, backgrounds, culture, risk perception, and understanding of science. This class will empower students to be effective advocates by helping them to learn about different viewpoints and considerations surrounding environmental issues. Students will have an opportunity to improve their problem-solving abilities by addressing interdisciplinary environmental, ecological, and sustainability problems in miniature on the campus of RIT. During the semester, students will research methods and strategies used by other colleges and universities to minimize environmental impacts in areas such as energy use, solid and hazardous waste management, transportation, landscaping and construction, preserving green space and natural systems (ecosystem functions and services), storm water runoff, food production and consumption, and purchasing. Student solutions to campus issues and projects will address the concept of sustainability and the tradeoffs it requires.

This honors seminar is a foundational course that examines how our social worlds are linked to our natural and built worlds. The corresponding emphasis on inquiry, analysis, and interpretation facilitates student-engaged learning. In exploring pertinent place and space related issues/topics through an experiential, active, and site-specific curricular focused learning, various aspects of the human condition are discovered. The theme or topic of this honors seminar, as chosen by the instructor, is announced in the subtitle as well as course notes and is developed in the syllabus. The honors seminar integrates the required Year One curriculum.

This course will expose students to approaching and working on wicked problems - unstructured, multidisciplinary issues lacking clear right or wrong answers. The course will introduce key skills for handling unstructured problems such as whole systems thinking, estimation and assumptions, valuation, and problem solving techniques, with the majority of the semester focused on a specific topic (wicked problem) and team case study. Students will work in teams to research and address one aspect or subset of the wicked problem at hand to join collectively with the results of all teams to form a more complete overall solution to the wicked problem.