Who'd want to do it? Spend half a summer in a classroom (didn't we all just get out of one of those?) learning about biology. Boy, are you in for a surprise of your life.

Providence College, in Providence, Rhode Island, has a course called Environmental Biology. It's for incoming sophomores, juniors, and seniors in high school. If you're not a big biology student but you're concerned about environmental issues, like conservation and composting, this is the class for you. There are five units presented: populations, water, air, energy, and land. In each unit, you'll learn how these things work, why they're important, problems with them, and ways to solve those problems. There are also a lot of hands-on labs to help reinforce what goes on in the classroom, and a long-term project related to an environmental issue is assigned. The last week, there is a "science fair," when all the projects are presented. Once a week, a field trip provides even more hands-on and "real life" solutions and problems with the environment.

But this course isn't only environment. It's also technology. A computer class is included. Here, you'll learn the ins and outs of word processors and spreadsheets, along with Pascal programming. It's a great way to become familiar with computers, whether or not you know anything about them to begin with.

Between learning about contemporary environmental issues and computers, you'll meet lots of great people. The students are great, and so are the teachers. To even out work and fun, there is an activity each week at lunch, such as pizza, or ice cream, or hamburgers. At the end, there is a banquet for the students and teachers where the students provide the entertainment for the teachers. The teachers entertained you, now you entertain them. And, to keep the memories with you forever, the students create a yearbook with pictures of all the students. u