Two pilot courses will be developed that introduce a viable research component for students in their first semester at college. These laboratory-oriented courses will be constructed to heighten interest in science by providing exciting and rewarding original research experiences in the fields of physical, analytical, and biological chemistry. Carefully designed research experiences were chosen which (1) would be of interest to the scientific community, (2) utilize concepts and techniques comprehensible to a college freshman, and (3) are achievable in a limited time. One of the courses, Science Methodology, will engage the students in identifying and measuring physical/chemical data for submission to the CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics. In the second course, Preserving Genomes, students will construct genomic libraries from a wide variety of organisms, including endangered species, for possible inclusion in the American Type Culture Collection.
