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Marine Biology: New Partnership
Empire State College and The Maritime Aquarium at
Norwalk (TMA) have
begun a unique partnership evident in this marine biology course. As a
result of our collaboration, you will take a field trip, sample marine
organisms, participate in the testing of water quality, and learn about
the taxonomy, anatomy and physiology of marine organisms as well as
their economic importance. Through extensive use of the DVDs, you will
be aboard the Research Vessel Oceanic on the Long Island Sound. You will
be in their laboratory facilities and walk among the aquarium displays.
In addition, in the DVD on jellies, you will get a unique perspective
from behind the scenes on marine organism husbandry.
The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk (TMA) logo
Empire State College, State University of New York
This course, Marine Biology, will deepen and build on your
understanding of biological and ecological concepts and facts gained
from previous biology courses and will expand to present new information
and help you develop skills that will enable you to read and critique
ongoing scientific projects and scientific literature. Now, with an
added taste of the practical side of experiments and field studies,
scientific papers may seem more meaningful when placed in the context of
the process involved.
We will also use videos and aquarium resources to explore the marine
biology behind local issues such as the impact of pollution on water
quality and the shellfish economy. We will observe the use of scientific
equipment to demonstrate the actual collection of data in the field. For
example, the course DVDs include presentations about water quality
sampling. The TMA educators demonstrate how parameters such as dissolved
oxygen, salinity, nitrogen, and phosphorus levels are measured. We will
discuss the theory and practice of such measurements including how they
vary with depth, time of day and season. The video will especially focus
on the importance of dissolved oxygen in the health of Long Island
Sound, the history of hypoxic events and the role of cultural
eutrophication. A discussion of the economic and environmental impacts
of low oxygen will be included. In all cases, the discussion will use
the Sound as a microcosm of larger environmental concerns and encourage
wide-ranging geographic applications and integration.
There is profound interdependence and interaction between all of life
and the oceans. Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection is the
single unifying and underlying theme of all biology and is central to
our study. All living things have evolved in the context of their
physical and biotic environments. This course presents an ecological
approach that emphasizes the interactions and adaptations of life in the
oceans. From this perspective, we examine the web of life and the myriad
ways that living organisms adapt to each other and to their environment.
Many of the links we provide in the commentaries give access to
scientific voyages and resources. And now, the DVDs add access to the
Research/Vessel Oceanic and the aquarium resources. |
