Associate in Science Degree

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This Liberal Arts & Sciences Mathematics & Sciences option prepares students for baccalaureate programs in Geology and related Earth Sciences.

Total Credit Hours: 63

First Semester

This course is an opportunity for students to develop the skills necessary to be successful in college. Students learn the importance of the faculty-student and advisor-advisee relationship, develop time management techniques, apply effective study skill techniques, recognize the implications of living in a diverse society, utilize college resources, and explore career and transfer requirements. Collaborative projects are included. Students matriculated in a degree program must take this course in their first term of study.

This course focuses on several kinds of writing-self-expressive, informative, and argumentative/persuasive, and others. A minimum of five essay compositions are required. The course emphasizes the composition of clear, correct, and effective prose required in a variety of professions and occupations. Prerequisites: Appropriate high school GPA or placement test score or EN090 Basic Writing Skills or SL116 ESL4: Advanced Composition or SL145 ESOL Advanced Composition

This is the first of a two-semester course covering the central concepts of biology. Topics include the chemical and cellular basis of life, energy transformations, and classical and molecular genetics. Laboratory exercises mirror lecture topics and include opportunities for the student to practice the scientific method, data collection, and lab report writing.

This course explores the composition and formation of minerals and rocks that make up the Earth. Additionally, the primary surface and subsurface properties that continually shape the Earth are discussed. In the laboratory, the common rock-forming minerals as well as igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks are examined. Additionally, the concepts of surface and groundwater flow are discussed as well as topographic map interpretation and construction. Field trips may be taken during laboratory periods.

This course prepares students for MA150 Precalculus. Topics include linear and quadratic equations; inequalities; rational expressions; trigonometric functions; graphs of linear, quadratic, piecewise, and trigonometric functions; and, systems of equations. Algebraic and trigonometric manipulations and problem-solving are emphasized. Prerequisite: Appropriate high school GPA or placement test score or MA115 Intermediate Mathematics.

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Second Semester

This course encourages a deeper understanding of human nature and the human condition through the study of ideas and values expressed in imaginative literature. Emphasis is placed on the use and development of critical thinking and language skills. Library-oriented research is required. Prerequisite: EN101 English 1: Composition or EN105 English Composition for Speakers of Other Languages or EN106 English 1: Composition & Reading.

This course is a continuation of BI141 covering the central concepts of biology. Topics include evolutionary processes, speciation, organismal biology, and ecology. Laboratory exercises mirror lecture topics and include opportunities for the student to practice the scientific method, data collection, and lab report writing. Prerequisite: BI141 General Biology 1 or permission of the Dean.

This course explores the physical and biological aspects of the Earths dynamic past over the last 4.6 billion years of its existence. Emphasis is placed on the geologic time scale, the concepts of physical and biological evolution, and plate tectonics. Laboratory topics include fossilization and taphonomy as well as the biological evolution and diversity of the Earths organisms through identification and examination of fossil specimens. Field trips may be taken during laboratory periods. An end-of-semester visit to the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan is encouraged. Prerequisite: GL101 Physical Geology.

This course prepares students for calculus through a study of the properties and graphs of polynomial, rational, trigonometric, inverse trigonometric, exponential, and logarithmic functions. Topics include an introduction to mathematical argument and conic sections. Emphasis is placed on the function concept and the appropriate use of the language of mathematics. Prerequisite: Appropriate placement test score or MA125 College Algebra and Trigonometry.

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Third Semester

This course introduces to the field of chemistry for science and engineering students. Topics include dimensional analysis, stoichiometry, periodicity, atomic structure and bonding, the states of matter, solutions, and acid and base concepts. The laboratory exercises exemplify chemical principles and develop individual problem-solving abilities. The laboratory experience includes preparation of the laboratory report and notebook. Prerequisites: High School Chemistry; and appropriate high school GPA or placement test score, or MA121 Fundamentals of College Mathematics 1, or MA139 College Algebra, or a corequisite of MA125 College Algebra and Trigonometry.

This non-calculus Physics course for technology, business administration, computer science, and liberal arts and sciences students covers topics in mechanics, wave motion, and heat. Prerequisite: Appropriate high school GPA or placement test score or MA121 Fundamentals of College Mathematics 1, or MA125 College Algebra and Trigonometry.

This is the first in a sequence of three courses in calculus. Topics include limits and continuity, differentiation of algebraic, trigonometric, exponential, and logarithmic functions, and indefinite and definite integration. Applications are included. Prerequisite: An appropriate placement test score or MA150 Precalculus.

(a) Social Science Electives: AN101, BM101, PS101, GE101, PY101, or SO101.

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Fourth Semester

This course is a continuation of CH141 General Chemistry 1. Topics include chemical thermodynamics, electrochemistry, chemical kinetics, chemical and solution equilibrium, descriptive organic chemistry, nuclear chemistry, and descriptive chemistry of elements. Prerequisite: CH141 General Chemistry 1.

This course is a continuation of PH151 General Physics 1 and includes topics in electricity and magnetism, geometrical and physical optics, and modern physics. Prerequisite: PH151 General Physics 1.

This course introduces the nature and study of history, and covers the emergence and development of Eurasian civilization to about 1500 A.D. in the Near East, India, China, Europe, the Western Hemisphere, and Africa. Attention is given to religion in these civilizations and on the rise of the West to a position of world power during the Middle Ages.

(b) Math & Natural Science Electives: MA 110, MA 152, GL 203 or BI 105 GL 102 & GL 203 are Spring term only courses and alternate annually. Students who participate in this two year program will have the opportunity to take both courses during their Spring semesters.

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(a) Social Science Electives: AN101, BM101, PS101, GE101, PY101, or SO101.

(b) Math & Natural Science Electives: MA 110, MA 152, GL 203 or BI 105

GL 102 & GL 203 are Spring term only courses and alternate annually.  Students who participate in this two year program will have the opportunity to take both courses during their Spring semesters.