Science: Supporting Health and Wellbeing (SCIE10003)

Scientific investigation underpins an evolving understanding of the structure and function of the healthy human body, as well as threats to human health and changes that occur as the body ages. This subject aims to develop students’ understanding of both health and disease, integrating the contributions of biology, chemistry and physics.

Careful development of students' academic skills is embedded in this subject.

Topics include:

• The multicellular organism: the importance of surface area to volume ratio;
• Body systems: Systems maintaining balance (homeostasis) – gases, salt, water, temperature; systems detecting the environment - sensory and nervous systems (detection of light, electrical conduction); other body systems - musculoskeletal system (movement, biomechanics);
• Chemistry of the human body: acids and bases, gas laws, molecules of life (e.g. proteins);
• Upsetting the balance: Infectious disease (treatment and prevention), other diseases (e.g. cancer), venom and its effects;
• Medical interventions: antibiotics, traditional and modern medical treatments, future of medicine;
• Newton’s laws and human health: forces of motion as applied to transport and communications.
• The influence of the environment on human health: assessing environmental health, biodiversity and human heath, health effects of nuclear radiation and reactions.