This course is part of a partnership with the Semester in Biological Discovery (SBD) Program of Marine Biological Laboratories (MBL). The SBD program is designed for students interested in biology or biology-adjacent fields and have completed introductory level courses in biology and chemistry. Students accepted to this program will spend the spring semester at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) in Woods Hole, MA. Please see this link for more information on the SBD program: https://www.mbl.edu/education/undergraduate-programs/semester-biological-discovery. Prior to submitting your application to MBL’s Semester in Biological Discovery program, you must meet with the Chair of the Natural Sciences and Mathematics department to discuss your interest and get permission to apply to this program. Since applications to the MBL SBD program are due in the fall semester, you must meet with the Chair in the preceding spring semester or by the first week in the fall semester. Once you have received approval from the Chair you must submit an application to MBL’s Semester in Biological Discovery program. The course spans over three weeks and presents lectures on Waves, Optics, and Modern Physics, as well as an Optics Lab with hands-on experience in assembling optics components for imaging, including polarization analysis. Lectures are given in the morning, concentrating each week on one of the three topics, while the Lab is taught on three afternoons of each week. Lectures introduce basic concepts and quantitative expressions for observables in the three topic areas, Waves, Optics, and Modern Physics. The Optics Lab offers the experience of assembling optical components into a functional instrument, making quantitative observations, and comparing them to conceptual expectations. This course is one of three electives – students can select between Stem Cells and Regeneration, Waves, Optics and Modern Physics or Fundamentals of Synapses. This course satisfies the Intermediate Level Course requirements for the Interdisciplinary Science Major. Permission required to register for this course.