Course Description
PSC1121C – Physical Science is an introductory survey of the physical sciences for
non-science majors, covering physics, chemistry, astronomy, geology, and meteorology in a
single term. Broward College titles the lecture version Physical Sciences Survey. The
C suffix reflects an integrated laboratory, which is what allows the course to satisfy a
laboratory science general education requirement.
The breadth is the defining feature and the honest limitation: a single course cannot go deep into five
disciplines. What it can do — and what good sections aim at — is build a working understanding of
the physical world and of how scientific claims are established and tested, which is durable regardless of a
student's major.
Content typically covers the nature of science and measurement;
motion and forces — Newton's laws applied qualitatively;
energy, work, and conservation; heat and temperature;
waves and sound; electricity and magnetism;
light and optics; atomic structure and the periodic table;
chemical bonding and reactions; solutions, acids, and bases;
nuclear chemistry and radioactivity; the solar system and
stars and galaxies; Earth's structure, plate tectonics, minerals, and
rocks; weather and climate; and Earth's atmosphere and oceans.
The laboratory involves measurement and error, simple physics and chemistry
investigations, mineral and rock identification, weather data interpretation, and astronomical observation.
Offered at approximately 12 Florida institutions.
Learning Outcomes
Required Outcomes
- Describe the scientific method and distinguish scientific claims from non-scientific ones.
- Use appropriate units, significant figures, and scientific notation in measurement.
- Describe motion and apply Newton's laws qualitatively to everyday situations.
- Explain work, energy, power, and conservation of energy.
- Distinguish heat from temperature and describe heat transfer mechanisms.
- Describe wave properties and apply them to sound.
- Describe electric charge, current, circuits, and magnetism at an introductory level.
- Describe the electromagnetic spectrum and the behavior of light.
- Describe atomic structure and interpret the organization of the periodic table.
- Describe chemical bonding and balance simple chemical equations.
- Describe solutions, concentration, and acid-base chemistry.
- Describe radioactivity, half-life, and nuclear reactions.
- Describe the structure and origin of the solar system.
- Describe stellar structure, evolution, and the organization of the universe.
- Describe Earth's internal structure and the evidence for plate tectonics.
- Identify common minerals and rocks and describe how each forms.
- Describe atmospheric structure, weather systems, and the distinction between weather and climate.
- Conduct laboratory investigations safely and interpret quantitative results.
Optional Outcomes
- Describe Florida geology, hydrology, and the aquifer system.
- Describe hurricane formation, structure, and forecasting.
- Describe climate change evidence and mechanisms.
- Describe energy resources and their trade-offs.
- Describe the history of scientific discovery in the physical sciences.
- Evaluate science reporting in popular media.
Major Topics
Required Topics
- Science and measurement — method, units, significant figures, and uncertainty.
- Motion — speed, velocity, acceleration, and Newton's laws.
- Energy — work, kinetic and potential energy, power, and conservation.
- Heat and thermodynamics — temperature scales, heat transfer, and phase change.
- Waves and sound — wave properties, frequency, and resonance.
- Electricity and magnetism — charge, current, circuits, and magnetic fields.
- Light and optics — the electromagnetic spectrum, reflection, refraction, and color.
- Atoms and elements — structure, isotopes, and the periodic table.
- Chemical bonding — ionic and covalent bonds and molecular structure.
- Chemical reactions — types, equations, and energy changes.
- Solutions and acid-base chemistry — concentration, pH, and neutralization.
- Nuclear chemistry — radioactivity, decay, half-life, fission, and fusion.
- The solar system — planets, moons, and formation.
- Stars and the universe — stellar evolution, galaxies, and cosmology basics.
- Earth's interior and plate tectonics — structure, plate boundaries, earthquakes, and volcanoes.
- Minerals and rocks — identification and the rock cycle.
- Atmosphere and weather — structure, pressure systems, fronts, and severe weather.
- Laboratory — measurement, investigation, identification, and data interpretation.
Optional Topics
- Florida geology, karst, and the Floridan aquifer.
- Hurricanes and tropical meteorology.
- Climate change.
- Energy resources and sustainability.
- History of science.
- Science in the media.
Resources & Tools
- Conceptual Physical Science (Hewitt, Suchocki & Hewitt), Pearson — the most widely adopted; deliberately light on mathematics and strong on understanding.
- Physical Science (Tillery), McGraw Hill — a common alternative with more quantitative content.
- OpenStax — free peer-reviewed texts in physics, chemistry, and astronomy that some Florida institutions combine for this course; worth asking about, since this is a general education course taken by students who will buy one science textbook.
- Laboratory manual — usually institution-specific.
- PhET Interactive Simulations — free; excellent across every physics and chemistry topic in the course.
- Stellarium — free planetarium software for the astronomy unit.
- NOAA and the National Hurricane Center — free live and archived weather data; the natural source for a Florida meteorology unit.
- USGS — earthquake, volcano, and geology resources, free.
- Scientific calculator — required at most institutions.
Career Pathways
This is a general education course rather than career preparation. Its value is scientific literacy, and
it supports:
- Elementary and middle grades teaching — Florida teacher candidates frequently take it as a science requirement, and its content maps onto the K-8 science standards they will teach.
- Any field — the measurement, evidence, and claim-evaluation content applies generally.
- Technical and trade programs — where basic physics and chemistry underpin the work.
- Further science study — students who discover an interest should move to the majors' sequences (PHY, CHM, GLY, AST), not to more survey courses.
Special Information
⚠ Check whether your section carries the laboratory — it decides what requirement it meets
This is the practical distinction that matters most. Broward College carries PSC1121 at
3 credits and 48 lecture hours with zero laboratory hours; the C variant at
other institutions adds an integrated laboratory. Many Florida degrees require a laboratory
science course specifically, and a lecture-only physical science will satisfy a general science requirement
but not a laboratory one. Students should check their degree audit for which is required and confirm the
section they register for matches. This is the same trap that catches students with BSC1020 versus
BSC1020C.
There is a real mathematics prerequisite at some institutions
Broward requires a college-level mathematics course or appropriate placement — any of MAT1033,
MGF1131, STA2023, MAC1105, or higher, at a minimum grade of C — before PSC1121. That surprises students
who assume a non-majors science survey has no gate. The course uses algebra for unit conversion, density,
energy, and chemistry calculations, and students weak in arithmetic and basic algebra struggle. Verify the
prerequisite locally.
Breadth is the challenge, not depth
Five disciplines in fifteen weeks means the course moves quickly and rarely revisits. Students commonly
find one unit intuitive and the next opaque, and falling behind during a hard unit is difficult to recover
from because the next one starts regardless. The practical advice is to treat each unit as its own short
course, keep up weekly rather than studying before examinations, and use office hours during the unit that is
giving trouble rather than after.
Florida makes the earth and atmospheric science unusually concrete
Where instructors localize the material, Florida provides unusually good cases. The state sits on a
karst limestone platform, which is why sinkholes form and why the
Floridan aquifer — one of the most productive in the world and the source of most of
the state's drinking water — behaves as it does, including its vulnerability to contamination and
saltwater intrusion. Florida's springs are a direct expression of that geology.
Hurricanes make the meteorology unit immediate rather than abstract, and the
National Hurricane Center in Miami publishes live and archived data students can work with.
Sea level and coastal processes are similarly local. Students often find these the most engaging weeks of the
course for good reason.
It is a survey for non-majors and does not substitute for majors' courses
PSC1121C does not satisfy prerequisites that specify PHY, CHM,
GLY, or AST courses, and it will not prepare a student for them. A student
who discovers an interest in physical science should take general chemistry or the appropriate physics
sequence rather than additional survey courses. SCNS equivalency applies to the same number at the same
level, never across numbers.