Overview

This module comprises sessions that develop practical skills.

Semester 1 Four laboratory sessions that will include the following activities:

1. Dissection and microscopy to investigate molluscan feeding strategies.
2. Immunity and haematology in marine invertebrate taxa (linked with Practical skills assessment 1).
3. Dissection, drawing and investigation of echinoderms.
4. Dissection, drawing and morphometric analysis of sharks (linked with Practical skills assessment 2).

Semester 2 Two case study activities, which will include workshops, field visits, and laboratory work.

Wader abundance and foraging ecology Biological rates Q10 experiment

This module comprises sessions that develop practical skills.

Overall aims and purpose Investigative inquiry and the acquisition of practical expertise (e.g., field, laboratory and data analysis skills) are essential employability skills for anyone wanting to follow an academic or applied career across the science sector and beyond. This module is a continuation of OSX-1002 Marine Biology Practical I. It further introduces you to two important components of Marine Biology: Field Science, and Laboratory Science. In addition, the module introduces two additional components: Experimentation and Data Management.

This module aims to:

Advance and hone your skills in methods regularly used by Marine Biologists, including dissection, microscopy, species identification, data collection, and data analysis.

Expose you to a diverse range of species and habitats, and encourages acquisition of laboratory and field-based practical skills.

Further the core skills you need to succeed in your scientific studies, as well as develop transferable skills that can be applied across subject disciplines.

Course content In Semester 1, you will participate in four on campus, in-person practical sessions and two online workshops dedicated to scientific writing activities. In Semester 2, you will participate in a combination of field, laboratory, analysis and workshop (including peer review) sessions associated with two scientific case studies. Online drop-in sessions are also scheduled over both semesters to support students to complete the module assessments. Further to the directed learning activities described above, this module involves self-study in the form of wider reading, and preparation for the coursework components of the module assessment. There is no end of semester exam.

The on campus, in-person practical sessions that comprise this module are as follows:

Semester 1 Four laboratory sessions that will include the following activities:

1. Dissection and microscopy to investigate molluscan feeding strategies.
2. Immunity and haematology in marine invertebrate taxa (linked with Practical skills assessment 1).
3. Dissection, drawing and investigation of echinoderms.
4. Dissection, drawing and morphometric analysis of sharks (linked with Practical skills assessment 2).

Semester 2 Two case study activities, which will include workshops, field visits, and laboratory work.

Wader abundance and foraging ecology Biological rates Q10 experiment

Assessment Strategy

Threshold (D) - Knowledge based on taught material. A basic understanding of subject-specific concepts and principles.

Good (B) - Knowledge based on the taught material. An understanding of subject-specific concepts and principles, sometimes extending into more specialised areas.

Excellent (A) - Knowledge extending well beyond the taught material. A thorough understanding of subject-specific concepts and principles, often extending into more specialised areas.

Learning Outcomes

• Apply knowledge gained during practical work to answer questions about methods used, results obtained, and/or interpretation.

• By the end of this module, you should be able to: Demonstrate the ability to dissect scientific specimens and use dissecting and compound microscopes to undertake anatomical observations, drawings and measurements.

• Critically appraise and evaluate experimental design, data limitations, and/or unexpected results.

• Demonstrate the ability to select and apply appropriate data analysis and interpretation to a scientific dataset.

• Explain the methods used, and report and interpret the key results of practical work in the style of a scientific report, whilst adhering to scientific conventions in terms of structure, style, data presentation and referencing.

• Explore, summarise and graphically display key scientific results.

• Formulate a hypothesis, and plan and implement simple laboratory experimentation, or field sampling, to collect data to test this hypothesis.

• Identify a range of marine organisms to taxa and/or species-level, label key anatomical features, and relate these characteristics to physiological processes and/or behaviour.