Marine biology focuses on the concepts of ecology and evolutionary biology in marine ecosystems. We begin the class by developing a model for how atmospheric forcing and ocean currents determine locations of high ocean productivity. We then consider how ocean productivity drives distribution and habitat use by marine nekton. Finally, we examine the diversity and evolution of marine species from sponges through vertebrates.
What causes the major ocean currents and how do these lead to animal distribution in the ocean?
What tools do we have to analyze large data sets?
How do species differ from one another?
How can we use morphology and genetics to compare species?
Essential Questions:
How can we predict global ocean currents from the basic principal that hot air rises?
Major Concepts:
Properties of water
Ocean and atmospheric coupling
Major Content:
Density, salinity, and thermohaline circulation
Hadley circulation
Coriolis effect
Global winds
Global currents
Unit Assessments:
Quiz
Model and presentation of global atmospheric circulation
Essential Questions:
Where are the most productive areas of the ocean and why?
Major Concepts:
Ocean productivity is a function of light and nutrients.
Light and nutrients vary in time and three-dimensional space.
Major Content:
Critical depth hypothesis and the spring bloom
Upwelling regions
High-nutrient, low-chlorophyll regions
Reef ecosystems and the sponge loop
Unit Assessments:
Research project on the fall or spring bloom in Lake Morey
Unit test
Essential Questions:
Where are sharks, tuna, seals, and albatross found in the Pacific Ocean and why are they there?
How can we analyze large data sets to test hypotheses?
Major Concepts:
Animals migrate through the the ocean environment to maintain body temperatures, find food, and for mating
Major Content:
Analysis of geotagged tuna, sharks, seals, and albatross
Analysis of data in time and space
Unit Assessments:
Develop and support a hypothesis for animal migratory behavior based on geolocation data
Oral presentation
Essential Questions:
What groups of organisms live in the ocean
Major Concepts:
Much of early evolution happened in the ocean
Over time, organisms gained complexity - from sponges through vertebrates
Major Content:
Characteristics of sponges, cnidarians, flatworms, molluscs, echinoderms, annelids, and crustaceans
Evolution of invertebrates
Phylogenetic trees
Unit Assessments:
Marine evolution project - create phylogenetic trees for organisms using morphology and DNA; compare the trees
Final exam