Goal 1: Students will demonstrate an understanding of the role of empirical data in establishing scientific knowledge. 

1.A Student will participate in laboratory work.

1.B Students will determine if the measurements of an experiment are accurate enough to conclude that the experiment successfully measured what it was suppose to measure.

1.C Students will critique experimental design and procedure.

1.D Students will identify how improvements in accuracy and precision could be obtained with the same or similar equipment using a different procedure or approach.

Goal 2: Students will demonstrate an understanding that, in addition to empirical evidence, science involves skepticism and rational arguments; that it is not opinion but is rather a reasoned consensus among informed experts which improves over time. 

2.A Students will demonstrate the critical thinking, skepticism and logical deduction inherent in the practice of the scientific process.

2.B Students will identify examples where scientific knowledge has progressed over time as the result of better empirical data and improved rational arguments.

Goal 3: Students demonstrate an understanding of several paradigm examples of the fundamental conceptual models which underlie our current understanding of the physical world. 

3.A Students will demonstrate an understanding that the motion of ordinary physical objects can be completely explained with simple concepts.

3.B Students will demonstrate an understanding that the theory of electromagnetic fields explain crucial aspects of modern technology.

3.C Students will demonstrate an understanding that the world is made of atoms and atoms are made of protons, electrons and neutrons which interact via four fundamental forces. The behavior of large numbers of these objects can be described using statistical methods.

3.D Students will demonstrate an understanding that a complete explanation of the physical world requires both a particle like description and a wave like description. This explanation includes a finite number of conserved quantities.

Goal 4: Students demonstrate technical skill in the use of several fundamental tools used in physics. 

4.A Students will demonstrate a knowledge of mathematics to the level of advanced calculus and differential equations.

4.B Students will demonstrate a knowledge of computer programming sufficient to be applied to scientific problems.