Our understanding of life is built from observation, abstraction, modeling, and comparison. In this First Year Foundations course we explore how these activities are based on concepts of chance and choice, of organization and dispersion, of cooperation and conflict, and how these ideas inform domains such as statistics, computer science, bioinformatics, molecular biology, physiology and ecology. Through this, we build a broad framework of relationships and connections that will make students’ engagement with specialized courses throughout the sciences all the more meaningful. This course's focus on best practices of structuring project work, using tools and resources, and documentation, will be valuable preparation for all subsequent courses. Restricted to first-year students. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.