Image sources  http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/6603/animal.htm and http://www.stanford.edu/group/Urchin/GIFS\c-urchin.gif

The activities created in this online learning resource have been designed for incorporation into the Senior Biology Curriculum. These combined activities should be allocated to a double period each week over one term.

Learning Activity 1 is a Web Quest-based activity. Students should work in groups of 3 and each group should have access to their own computer terminal with internet access.

This activity was designed to incorporate several components of the Biology Curriculum including genetics, disease, marine biology and ecosystems. It is hoped that this activity will help students to understand the `real world' links between these areas of science by encouraging them to learn about:

•    the concept of Biotechnology and related terminology

•    classification and identification of marine species

•    physical and chemical characteristics of extreme marine habitats

•    adaptations of marine organisms to their habitat

•    how certain marine organisms make suitable candidates for:

        -    disease diagnosis

        -    drug discovery and development

        -    bioremediation and environmental health

        -    industrial applications such as bioengineering  

•    biotechnological techniques

•    identification of marine pests and why they are harmful

Learning Activity 2 is linked to Activity 1 in that students are required to look more closely at the ecology of one of the marine pests - the phytoplankton that cause toxic red tidal blooms. Students will explore the role of phytoplankton in a marine food web, and assess how certain environmental factors influence their distribution. This activity is interactive with the internet and requires students to:

 •    read background information on material relevant to the Activity

 •    collate `real' data collected by biologists into an Excel spreadsheet

 •    produce a graph in Excel that relates all factors

 •   interrelate environmental factors with distribution of marine animals/plants

[ Home ] [ Activity Overview ] [ Learning Activity 1 ] [ Tasks ] [ Process ] [ Evaluation Activity 1 ] [ Learning Activity 2 ] [ Excel Exercise ] [ Creating the Webpage ] [ Interesting Links ]

Copyright © March 2003.

Website designed by Bronwyn Atcheson, Student at Queensland University of Technology, Queensland. Email b.atcheson@student.qut.edu.au