Marine Biology Lab - 3rd year
Provides a practical laboratory session to accompany the study of marine biology, starting from basic scientific concepts and including the various phyla of marine organisms. The course will provide a combination of hands-on laboratory work and video documentaries.
Objectives:
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
1. Carry out marine field experiments to test a hypothesis, and gather relevant scientific data, with the objective of analyzing this data and drawing the necessary conclusions from it.
2. Demonstrate marine laboratory concepts, techniques, and procedures.
3. Explain the concept of marine ecology and demonstrate the expected distribution of fauna in a given area – based on a theoretical understanding of the ecology of that area.
4. Describe the identifying characteristics of marine organisms – in the main phyla studied – within the six-kingdom classification system.
Topics:
This lab will closely follow the theoretical component of the course. Visit the Marine Biology course outline for more information.
Method of Instruction:
1. Laboratory demonstrations
2. Feedback on drawings
3. Video presentations
Types of Assignments:
1. Research projects and scientific reports as appropriate
2. Scientific drawings of specimens under examination
3. Laboratory experiments, as appropriate
Sample Text:
1. Marine Biology. 5th Ed. by Peter Castro and Michael Huber. McGraw-Hill, 2005.
2. Marine Biology Coloring Book by Thomas Niesen. Collins, 2000.
3. The Blue Planet video series, narrated by David Attenborough. BBC1, 2001.
4. Various marine life videos from National Geographic.
