Launching STEM: An Exploration of Earth, Space & Everything In-Between!
a Discovery Core Experience
BCORE 110 (Natural Sciences) or BCORE 107 (Social Sciences)
About This Course
We live on a spaceship, but we rarely operate like that’s the case. Eclipses, meteor showers, auroras,
these events might get us looking up, but most often we are focused from the horizon downward. This course will get you looking upward and outward. It will take you on a journey from scales you operate in daily to scales that are challenging to fathom. We will investigate celestial cycles and events, and how humans have and continue to use tools and observations to make sense of our place in space. Finally, we will explore how humans launch into space and what they discover while conducting experiments onboard the International Space Station.
Why Should I Take This Course?
This course has enough “space” for everyone. We will systematically look up, we will launch rockets, we will explore terrain and make earth observations like astronauts. This course will build your awareness of the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields used on spaceship Earth and beyond. We will also investigate how cultures used and recorded sky observations, the history of the Space Race, and policies that guide space exploration.
You will have individual and team projects that increase your use of the UW Libraries, Writing &
Communications Center, and Quantitative Skills Center.
Want to Learn More?
This class was featured on UWB’s website in an article entitled, “From Discovery launch pad to Discovery Core.” Check out pictures from the class and learn about their rocket launch!
Professor Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger (she/her/hers)
School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences
Education & Experience
- Retired NASA Astronaut and Aquanaut
- MS, Applied Geology, University of Washington
- Teaching Certification, Earth Science and History, Central Washington University
- BA, Geology, Whitman College
Contact
Email: dmml@uw.edu