Department of Biology & Biochemistry, Unit Catalogue 2010/11 |
BB20041: Field course |
 Credits:
| 6 |
| Level:
| Intermediate |
| Period: | This unit is available in... |
| Semester 2 |
| Assessment:
| CW 100% |
| Supplementary Assessment: | Like-for-like reassessment (where allowed by programme regulations) |
| Requisites:
| Before taking this unit you must take BB10012 and take BB20040 |
| Description:
| Aims: To introduce the student to natural habitats in ways that enable the student to recognise patterns of distribution and behaviour of organisms and to question the basis of these patterns and behaviours. To introduce the student to the use of appropriate sampling patterns, experimental design, data gathering and statistical analysis. Learning Outcomes: After taking this course the student should be able to: * describe and explain how aspects of behavioural ecology and of community structure can be investigated; * explain how these behaviours and structure may have arisen and how they are maintained; * design and perform a short field-based investigation; analyse and graphically present data; * prepare a written report of field-based investigations. Skills: Learning and studying T/F/A, Written communication T/F/A, Oral communication T/F/A, Numeracy & computation T/F/A, Information technology T/F, Problem solving T/F, Working independently T/F. Content: Visit to ecosystem types of varying complexity and subject to different kinds of selection process. These include rocky shore, sand dune, coastal grassland, woodland and moorland. Investigation of components of these ecosystem types including spatial distribution, size and age distributions, reproduction and behaviour. Each student designs and carries out a two-day field-based investigation. A report, including an account of this investigation, is completed during the course. A short talk about the investigation is presented on the last day of the field trip. Students are required to make a financial contribution to the field trip (currently 175). Since the course must be run more than once to accommodate all of the students wishing to do it, students are required to be available for any of the courses which will usually be held out of term-time (usually the two weeks of the Easter vacation and the first week of the summer vacation). |