Physical Sciences

Physical Sciences Department Hero Image

 
 
Phone: 516.572.7383
Chairperson: Stuart Kaplan
 

The Department of Physical Sciences offers several introductory courses from a variety of disciplines. All courses provide students the ability to satisfy general education requirements along with the opportunity to major in one of the Atmospheric, Environmental or Earth Sciences. The Department of Physical Sciences offers many courses as part of the Distance Education program. Students enrolled in these courses benefit from the flexibility and convenience of online or partially online course platforms.

Lab and field work are vital and exciting components to many of the courses in the Department of Physical Sciences. Astronomy students have exclusive access to the department's planetarium. The planetarium boasts an 18-foot dome shaped ceiling with a central projector that illuminates the night sky. Telescopes are mounted for use on the observation deck, along with portable telescopes that are used to conduct evening observations of celestial objects in the field.

Students in Meteorology and Climatology courses study and analyze data provided by the NCC Weather Center, where live readings of outdoor atmospheric air temperature and pressure, precipitation, wind speed and direction are collected and displayed. Earth and Environmental Science students learn about earth processes unique to Long Island by attending several field trips. Field work provides students a means to directly observe environmental phenomenon. Environmental Mapping students use GPS/GIS units and mapping software to create maps of the region.

Special Facilities

The Physical Sciences Department has a planetarium with an 18-foot diameter dome which is utilized in astronomy courses and during "Open House" astronomy nights. State-of-the-art telescopes are used in the lab as well as for observations of the evening sky.

 
 

Lab/Help Center

The Physical Sciences Computer/Lab Center is a department resource that provides a range of reinforcement and tutorial services for students.

 Room C216

Cluster C
516.572.8095

Room C310

 Cluster C
516.572.7282

The department's facilities include six laboratories with specialized equipment for all of the Physical Sciences courses being offered. Computers with Internet access are available for student use in the lecture rooms and laboratories as well as two special computer rooms. The facilities offer students an opportunity to work with laboratory equipment and computers for tutorial work, experiment simulations, special projects, word processing, databases and spreadsheets in addition to developing presentations using presentation programs and computer projectors.

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