At McDaniel College, students get a taste of three sciences in one class focusing on one subject: wood.

Biology, physics, and chemistry are three separate sciences, so doesn’t that mean three separate classes? Not necessarily. In McDaniel’s popular freshman seminar, Trees on the Hill: The Science of Wood, students learn all three of these sciences in one class by examining wood. 

Professor Richard Smith chose wood as a focal point for many reasons, the main one being that it’s familiar and ever-present. 

And although the first quiz consists of questions like, “The vascular cambium consists of what two types of embryonic cells?” wood can also be fun. There is an appealing, hands-on part of the class where students make products such as benches out of wood, but they are not allowed to use electrical tools in the process. Therefore, they must apply their knowledge of the science of wood in order to decide which type to use and where to cut the planks. 

In the process, students learn about the physics, chemistry, and biology of the not-so-basic substance.