Teaching Physics Minor

A teaching minor is an academic minor which may contain different course requirements designed to meet state standards. Those interested in teaching in K-12 schools must complete a teaching major in a content area plus the teacher preparation program through the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. Additional teaching areas can be added through completion of either a teaching major or a teaching minor in that content area.

Minor - Physics (Minor); Track: Teaching Physics

College Humanities & Sciences

Catalog Year: 2016-2017

Degree Specific Credits: 56

Required Cumulative GPA: 2.0


Lower Division Physics

Rule: Must complete all of the courses in one of the two options:

Note: Calculus-based Physics sequence is strongly recommended.

Note: The Physics with Calculus series (PHSX 215N - 218N) is strongly recommended.

Minimum Required Grade: C-
10 Total Credits Required

College Physics

Rule: May complete all of the following courses

Show All Course Descriptions Course Credits
Show Description PHSX 205N - College Physics I
Offered autumn and spring.  Prereq., M 122 or 151 or equivalent, and prereq. or coreq. PHSX 206N.  Mechanics, sound, and heat.  For non-physical science majors.  This course satisfies the lecture portion of medical school requirements in general physics.  Credit not allowed for both PHSX 205N-207N and 215N-217N.
4 Credits
Show Description PHSX 206N - College Physics I Laboratory
Offered autumn and spring.  Prereq. or coreq., PHSX 205N.  Mechanics, sound, and heat.  For non-physical science majors.  This course satisfies the laboratory portion of medical school requirements in general physics.  Credit not allowed for both PHSX 206N-208N and 216N-218N.
1 Credits
Show Description PHSX 207N - College Physics II
Offered autumn and spring.  Prereq. PHSX 205N and prereq. or coreq., PHSX 208N.  Electricity, magnetism, light, and modern physics.  For non-physical science majors.  This course satisfies the lecture portion of medical school requirements in general physics.  Credit not allowed for both PHSX 205N-207N and 215N-217N.
4 Credits
Show Description PHSX 208N - College Physics II Laboratory
Offered autumn and spring.  Prereq., PHSX 206N, prereq, or coreq., PHSX 207N.  Electricity, magnetism, light and modern physics.  For non-physical science majors.  This course satisfies the laboratory portion of medical school requirements in general physics.  Credit not allowed for both PHSX 206N-208N and 216N-218N.
1 Credits
Minimum Required Grade: C- 10 Total Credits Required

Physics with Calculus

Rule: May complete all of the following courses

Show All Course Descriptions Course Credits
Show Description PHSX 215N - Fund of Physics w/Calc I
Offered autumn. Prereq. or coreq., PHSX 216N and M 171 or equiv. This course satisfies the lecture portion of medical and technical school requirements in general physics. Mechanics, fluids, waves and sound. Credit not allowed for both PHSX 215N-216N-217N-218N and 205N-206N-207N-208N.
4 Credits
Show Description PHSX 216N - Physics Laboratory I w/Calc
Offered autumn. Coreq., PHSX 215N. This course satisfies the laboratory portion of medical and technical school requirements in general physics. Mechanics, fluids, waves, and sound. Credit not allowed for both PHSX 215N-216N-217N-218N and 205N-206N-207N-208N.
1 Credits
Show Description PHSX 217N - Fund of Physics w/Calc II
Offered spring. Prereq., PHSX 215N, and prereq. or coreq. PHSX 218, and prereq. or coreq., M 172 or equivalent. This course satisfies the lecture portion of medical and technical school requirements in general physics. Heat, electricity, magnetism, and light. Credit not allowed for both PHSX 215N-216N-217N-218N and 205N-206N-207N-208N.
4 Credits
Show Description PHSX 218N - Physics Laboratory II w/Calc
Offered spring. Prereq., PHSX 215N, coreq., PHSX 217N. This course satisfies the laboratory portion of medical and technical school requirements in general physics. Heat, electricity, magnetism, and light. Credit not allowed for both PHSX 215N-216N-217N-218N and 205N-206N-207N-208N.
1 Credits
Minimum Required Grade: C- 10 Total Credits Required

Upper Division Physics

Rule: Complete the following courses

Show All Course Descriptions Course Credits
Show Description PHSX 320 - Classical Mechanics
Offered autumn. Prereq., PHSX 301, M 311. Topics in classical mechanics at the intermediate level, emphasizing Lagrangian and Hamiltonian dynamics.
3 Credits
Show Description PHSX 327 - Optics
Offered spring. Prereq., PHSX 311. Intermediate level study of light and optics, including geometrical optics, wave optics, optical instruments, coherence, polarization, and special topics.
3 Credits
Show Description PHSX 330 - Communicating Physics
Offered spring even-numbered years. Prereq., PHSX 217N-218N or PHSX 207N-208N. Oral and written communication skills in physics, to include teaching high school and college physics, presenting seminars, and writing technical and non-technical physics articles.
3 Credits
Show Description PHSX 343 - Modern Physics
Offered autumn. Prereq., one year of college physics; coreq., M 273. Includes historical background for development of modern physics and an introduction to quantum mechanics, atomic and nuclear physics. Credit not allowed for graduate degree in physics.
3 Credits
Minimum Required Grade: C- 12 Total Credits Required

Math Requirements

Rule: Complete all of the following courses

Show All Course Descriptions Course Credits
Show Description M 171 - Calculus I
Offered autumn and spring. Prereq., M 122 or 151 or ALEKS placement >= 5.  Differential calculus, including limits, continuous functions, Intermediate Value Theorem, tangents, linear approximation, inverse functions, implicit differentiation, extreme values and the Mean Value Theorem.  Integral Calculus including antiderivatives, definite integrals, and the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus.
4 Credits
Show Description M 172 - Calculus II
Offered autumn and spring. Prereq., M 171 or 181. Techniques of Integration. Area computations. Improper integrals. Infinite series and various convergence tests. Power series. Taylor's Formula. Polar coordinates. Parametric curves.
4 Credits
Show Description M 273 - Multivariable Calculus
Offered autumn and spring. Prereq., M 172 or 182. Calculus of functions of several variables; differentiation and elementary integration. Vectors in the plane and space.
4 Credits
Show Description M 311 - Ordinary Diff Equations/System
Offered autumn. Prereq., M 273. Ordinary differential equations. Systems of linear differential equations from a matrix viewpoint.  Series solutions. Existence and uniqueness for initial value problems.  Numerical methods. Stability and selected topics. M 317 computer lab recommended.
3 Credits
Minimum Required Grade: C- 15 Total Credits Required

Computer Science Requirements

Rule: Choose 1 of the following

Note: PHSX 333 is strongly recommended

Show All Course Descriptions Course Credits
Show Description CSCI 100 - Intro to Programming
Offered autumn and spring. This course covers basic programming concepts such as variables, data types, iteration, flow of control, input/output, functions, and objects. The course will also cover programming ideas such as data structures, algorithms, modularity, and debugging. Students will learn about the role computation can play in solving problems by writing interesting programs to solve useful goals. No prior programming experience is expected. (Two hours independent lab per week.) Credit not allowed for both CSCI 100 and CSCI 110.
3 Credits
Show Description CSCI 135 - Fund of Computer Science I
Offered autumn and spring. Prereq., computer programming experience in a language such as BASIC, Pascal, C, etc. Fundamental computer science concepts using the high level structured programming language, Java.
3 Credits
Minimum Required Grade: C- 3 Total Credits Required

Statistics

Rule: Must complete 1 of the following courses

Show All Course Descriptions Course Credits
Show Description STAT 216 - Introduction to Statistics
Offered autumn and spring. Prereq., M 115 (preferred), or one of M 121, 132, 151, 162 or 171, or ALEKS placement >= 4. Introduction to major ideas of statistical inference. Emphasis is on statistical reasoning and uses of statistics.
4 Credits
Show Description STAT 341 - Intro to Probability and Stat
Offered autumn and spring. Prereq., one of M 162, 172 or 182. Probability, probability models and simulation, random variables, density functions, special distributions, and a brief survey of estimation and hypothesis testing. Computer use integrated throughout.
3 Credits
Minimum Required Grade: C- 3-4 Total Credits Required

Teaching Licensure Requirements

Note: Students must be formally admitted to the Teacher Education Program and complete all of the professional education licensure requirements. See the Department of Curriculum & Instruction in the College of Education and Human Sciences for more information. A minor GPA of 2.75 is required to be eligible for student teaching. Individuals completing a teaching minor must also complete a teaching major in another content area.


Allied Science

Rule: Must complete the following subcategories

10-11 Total Credits Required

Astronomy

Rule: Must complete 1 of the following courses

Show All Course Descriptions Course Credits
Show Description ASTR 131N - Elementary Astronomy I
Offered autumn. Prereq., high school algebra and geometry. An introduction to observational, historical, and planetary astronomy. Students will have a chance to visit UM's state-of-the-art planetarium and observe with our 0.4 meter telescope.
3 Credits
Show Description ASTR 132N - Elementary Astronomy II
Offered spring. Prereq., high school algebra and geometry. An introduction to stars, stellar evolution, galaxies, and cosmology. Students will have a chance to visit UM’s state-of-the-art planetarium and observe with our 0.4 meter telescope.
3 Credits
Minimum Required Grade: C- 3 Total Credits Required

Chemistry

Rule: Must complete the following courses

Show All Course Descriptions Course Credits
Show Description CHMY 121N - Intro to General Chemistry
Offered autumn and spring. First semester of an introduction to general, inorganic, organic and biological chemistry.
3 Credits
Show Description CHMY 485 - Laboratory Safety
Offered autumn. Prereq., one year of college chemistry. Awareness of and methods of control of hazards encountered in laboratory work. Awareness of legal constraints on work with chemicals. Sources of information regarding chemical hazards.
1 Credits
Minimum Required Grade: C- 4 Total Credits Required

Biology

Rule: Must complete 1 of the following courses

Show All Course Descriptions Course Credits
Show Description BIOB 160N - Principles of Living Systems
Offered autumn and summer. Unifying principles of biological structure-function relationships at different levels of organization and complexity. Consideration of reproduction, genetics, development, evolution, ecosystems, as well as the inter-relationships of the human species to the rest of life. Students requiring a laboratory should also register for BIOB 161N. Credit not allowed for both BIOB 101N and 160N.
3 Credits
Show Description BIOB 161N - Prncpls of Living Systems Lab
Offered autumn and summer. Prereq., or Coreq., BIOB 160N. Lab experiences illustrate biological principles underlying growth, reproduction, development, genetics and physiology, and are designed to give students practice in scientific methods of description, development of hypotheses, and testing.
1 Credits
Show Description BIOB 170N - Princpls Biological Diversity
Offered spring and summer.  Survey of the diversity, evolution and ecology of life including prokaryotes, viruses, protista, fungi, plants and animals.
3 Credits
Show Description BIOE 172N - Introductory Ecology
Offered autumn.  An introduction to ecological principles, stressing the structure and function of natural communities and examining human's role in these ecosystems.
3 Credits
Show Description BIOO 105N - Introduction to Botany
Offered spring.  Introduction to the plant kingdom including anatomy, physiology and ecology.
3 Credits
Minimum Required Grade: C- 3-4 Total Credits Required

Teaching Licensure Course

Rule: Must complete the following course

Note: The EDU 497 course number is used for multiple courses. Students should register for EDU 497 Methods: 5-12 Science.

Show All Course Descriptions Course Credits
Show Description EDU 497 - Teaching and Assessing
(R-15) Offered autumn and/or spring. Prerequisite: Admission to the Teacher Education Program. This course number is used for multiple elementary and secondary methods courses. Check the class schedule or with your advisor regarding appropriate sections. 5-8 Mathematics: 3 cr. Offered autumn and spring. This class must be taken concurrently with Level 3 courses and is restricted to students who have completed coursework in Levels 1 & 2. Methods of teaching, assessing, and evaluating mathematics in the 5-8 middle grades including number and operations, rational numbers, ratio and proportion, measurement, algebra, expressions and equations, geometry, probability, statistics, and functions. K-8 Social Studies: 3 cr. Offered autumn and spring. This class must be taken concurrently with Level 3 courses and is restricted to students who have completed coursework in Levels 1 & 2. Emphasis on developing teaching and assessing social studies teaching/learning opportunities that incorporate literature, primary sources and other developmentally appropriate activities. Overarching themes address diversity, integration across the curriculum and understanding state and national curriculum standards. K-8 Science: 3 cr. Offered autumn and spring. This class must be taken concurrently with Level 3 courses and is restricted to students who have completed coursework in Levels 1 & 2. Emphasis on developing, teaching, and assessing science teaching/learning opportunities that are inquiry-based, developmentally appropriate, integrated across the curriculum, and aligned with state and national curriculum standards. 4-8 Reading: 3 cr. Offered autumn and spring. This class must be taken concurrently with Level 3 courses and is restricted to students who have completed coursework in Levels 1 & 2. Preparation for teaching reading in a 4-8 setting so that all students are successful. Emphasis on reading to learn. Focus on using assessment to guide instruction, learning from trade books, textbooks, and electronic texts, activating prior knowledge, studying texts, and developing student enthusiasm for reading. 5-12 Science: 3 cr. Offered autumn. Methods of teaching science in the middle and secondary school. This course emphasizes the use of inquiry, problem-solving, appropriate use of technology, and assessment techniques that align with state and national curriculum standards. 5-12 Social Studies: 3 cr. Offered autumn. Foundations and purpose of the middle and secondary social studies curriculum. Elements of curricular design, including instructional methods, materials and assessment. 5-12 Mathematics: 4 cr. Offered autumn. Methods for teaching mathematics in grades 5-12 focusing on presentation of mathematics concepts and procedures through models, problem solving, and technology. Development of instructional strategies and classroom organizational models, discourse in the classroom, and multiple means for assessing student progress. 5-12 Business Subjects: 4 cr. Offered autumn. Methods for teaching business subjects in grades 5-12 focusing on content-specific topics in business, marketing, and information technology to include: instructional planning; effective teaching strategies (F2F & online); multiple means for assessing student progress; classroom management; and the relationship of the content area to standards-based curricula.
0 To 4 Credits
Minimum Required Grade: C- 3 Total Credits Required