Most of Science Hall is dedicated to teaching and research laboratories whose design supports a highly investigative and "hands-on" approach toward instruction in the natural sciences, from the introductory through advanced level. Teaching laboratories feature modular benches, where students work collaboratively in small groups. Dedicated space for student research is featured prominently throughout the building. Improving laboratory support spaces in ways that give students greater hands-on access to major instrumentation, much of which has been acquired through faculty-sponsored grants from the National Science Foundation, was a prominent factor in our planning. Areas such as the electron microscope suite and the radiation lab, for example, are designed to accommodate small groups of students or an entire class. Previously, much of this instrumentation was housed in overcrowded, cramped spaces, making it inaccessible to large numbers of students and difficult to utilize as an instructional resource.
The lower level features two advanced research laboratories in physics, where students conduct a variety of new and enhanced experiments in solid-state and liquid-crystal phase transitions. It also includes an x-ray laboratory, where students from all of the sciences learn the principles of x-ray diffraction.
The first and second floors house laboratory and support spaces for general and analytical chemistry, organic and inorganic chemistry, biochemistry, physical chemistry, and instrumental analysis.
The third floor of the building is devoted to research and teaching laboratories for courses in introductory biology, microbiology, developmental biology, genetics, animal physiology, animal behavior, and endocrinology.