Cluster 3: Under the Sea - Exploring Marine Organisms and Their World
In this cluster, students will learn how different marine organisms are able to cope with their unique environments through studies of their physiology and ecology. All animals eat, reproduce and survive to the best of their ability; yet there are so many different ways that animals find food, produce offspring and avoid being eaten. How they do this will depend on their own physiology, life history, habitat use, as well as interactions with the other marine organisms around them. You will study how the ecology of marine animals can help us understand differences among many different marine species, why they do what they do, and how to protect them. You will also explore the life history, physiology, and conservation of marine mammals (seals, sea lions, dolphins, whales, sea otters) living off our shores. Through hands-on investigations of marine organisms, from barnacles and snails to fishes and whales, students will gain an understanding and appreciation of what life in the ocean world is like. This cluster involves field-intensive research for those who enjoy working in nature.
Prerequisite: Students must have completed one year of high
school biology.
All students in this cluster will be enrolled in the following
courses.
Marine Mammal Biology
Instructor: Shawn Noren, Ph.D., Research Associate, IMS-UCSC
Similar to humans and other terrestrial mammals, dolphins and seals must breathe
air and maintain a stable core body temperature in order to survive.
Yet living in the ocean creates a paradox, marine mammals must hold
their breath to forage and their watery environment rapidly steals
body heat. Over evolutionary time, marine mammals have acquired
amazing physiological adaptations to endure these challenges. In
this class we will explore the life history, physiology, and conservation
of this fascinating group of mammals. Field trips may include a
marine mammal survey in Monterey Bay, Año Nuevo State Beach,
Long Marine Laboratory, Marine Mammal Center, and/or the Oiled Wildlife
Center.
Marine Biology and Ecology
Instructor: Rachel Barnett-Johnson, Ph.D., (Institute of Marine Sciences)
In this course we will learn about a diverse group of marine organisms (including algae, invertebrates, and fish) and their interactions with their biological and physical environments. We will learn about the types of habitats found in the Monterey Bay area, including the open-ocean, the nearshore coastal waters, bays and estuaries, and the intertidal region. We will discuss the early life history stages of marine organisms as they develop from eggs and larvae to the juvenile stages, and discuss how coastal oceanography affects what happens as these early stages float among the plankton. We will then explore what happens to marine organisms once they have settled into their adult habitats, and whether or not biological (such as competition or predation) or physical factors (such as temperature or waves) are more important in influencing the communities or marine organisms. Finally, we will focus on the life history characteristics of commercially important fish species, the role of marine reserves, and how understanding their biology is critical to sustainable fisheries management. To explore these topics, we will go on various field trips to sites throughout the Monterey Bay area and to local aquariums. Students will design their own rapid biological experiment in the rocky intertidal habitat and will formally present the results of their research to the group.
Field research is fun and exciting, although quite challenging, so students must be prepared to get wet, dirty, and to work hard, while enjoying themselves out in nature.
Transferable Skills
It may or may not surprise you that being a university researcher requires
a whole host of skills outside of the specific scientific knowledge
required of your chosen discipline or specialty. It requires communication
skills such as the ability to present your work in writing and orally.
It requires competencies in the realm of information technology
including the ability to find and judge (the validity of) information
and use a variety of hardware and software tools (e.g. spreadsheets,
databases, statistics software, other data manipulation tools).
It requires all of those skills required to effectively conduct
research such as data collection, analysis and interpretation, critical
thinking and problem solving as well as the ability to conduct laboratory
and/or field work. And, of course, a baseline competency in English,
science, mathematics and computers is critical.
The governing mission of the UCSC COSMOS Transferable Skills course
is to promote students’ future academic (and professional)
success through the exploration and development of transferable
skills: i.e. those competencies that students develop while in school
which facilitate academic achievement, the eventual transition into
the work-force and which are applicable in many other life situations.
Go to course information for:
- Logic and Probability: Reason and Riddles*
- Engineering
the Future: Autonomous Robots and Nanotechnology*
- Under
the Sea: Exploring Marine Organisms and Their World*
- Everyday
Chemistry: From Perfumes to Pollution*
- Video Games: The Design of Fun - From Concept to Code*
- Chemistry
and Mathematics: From Life to Thought*
- Astronomy, Number Theory, and Cryptography: From 1 to the Stars*
- Marine Mammals and Oceanography: From Prey to Predators
- Particle and Astrophysics: Investigations of the Minuscule to the Massive
