PHYS 308 - Sustainable Energy Systems

Units: 3 ; Breadth Area: GE-UDB; Sustainability
Project-based course; Science of climate change and its relation to energy systems; student projects have high impact on their campus carbon emissions. Readings, discussion, and research on contemporary and/or significant issues in physics relating to climate science and energy systems. Lecture Units: 2; Lab Units: 1.

Strongly Recommended Preparation: Upper division status (greater than 60 earned semester units) and completion of lower division Areas B1-B3.
Prerequisites: Completion of GE Areas A1, A2, A3 and B4 with grade C- (CR) or better.
Repeatability: May be repeated for credit for a maximum of 6 units.
Possible Instructional Methods: Entirely On-ground.
Grading: A-F or CR/NC (student choice).
Breadth Area(s) Satisfied: GE-UDB- Upper Division Science Inquiry and Quantitative Reasoning, Overlay - Sustainability
Course Typically Offered: Variable Intermittently

Student Learning Outcomes - Upon successful completion of this course students will be able to:

Describe the challenges and problems associated with the use of various energy sources, including fossil fuels, with regard to future supply and the environment.
Develop an understanding of the concepts of energy, power and work with regards to energy consumption and production and climate change.
Convert units of energy and power to quantify energy demands and make comparisons among energy uses, resources, and technologies.
Assess the advantages and limitations of various strategies for clean energy on a college campus.

UD-B. Upper-division Science Inquiry and Quantitative Reasoning Learning Outcomes

demonstrate advanced and/or focused science or quantitative content knowledge in a specific scientific field, using appropriate vocabulary and referencing appropriate concepts (such as models, uncertainties, hypotheses, theories, and technologies);
apply advanced quantitative skills (such as statistics, algebraic solutions, interpretation of graphical data) to scientific problems and evaluate scientific claims;
demonstrate understanding of the nature of science and scientific inquiry and the experimental and empirical methodologies used in science to investigate a scientific question or issue; and
apply science content knowledge to contemporary scientific issues (e.g., global warming) and technologies (e.g., cloning), where appropriate.

Sustainability Overlay Learning Outcomes

identify the environmental, social, and economic dimensions of sustainability, either in general or in relation to a specific problem;
analyze interactions between human activities and natural systems;
describe key threats to environmental sustainability; and
explain how individual and societal choices affect prospects for sustainability at the local, regional, and/or global levels.