Overview

Semester 1

Five practicals, and four workshops

Practicals: 1. An introduction to marine plankton and microscopy 2. Soft sediment ecological survey (field and lab prac) 3. The dissection of a marine teleost fish, and production of scientific drawings (linked to an assessment) 4. Comparison of manipulative and observational experimental designs (field and lab prac) 5. An introduction to common intertidal macroalgae and associated epibiota (linked to an assessment) Four workshops covering scientific literature and their core components

Semester 2

Two case-study activities. Each includes: • An introductory lecture • A field trip (one also includes a laboratory element to the work) • An analysis workshop Both activities are supplemented by drop-in help sessions and are linked to assessments

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. (B)

-excellent (A) -Knowledge extending well beyond 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

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

• Demonstrate the ability to make rigorous observations of scientific specimens using appropriate methods. These may include undertaking dissections, using dissecting and compound microscopes, and making drawings and measurements.

• Explain the methods used and report 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

• Identify a range of marine organisms to taxa and/or species-level, and label key anatomical features.

• Implement simple laboratory experimentation, or field sampling, to collect data to test a hypothesis.