Marine Botany Schedule 2009
Book for the course: Keys to the Seaweeds and Seagrasses of British Columbia, Southeast Alaska, Washington and Oregon by Gabrielson, Widdowson & Lindstrom (2006).
1st Week
Expectations: Content, Communication, Computers skills
Introduction to microscopes and keys
What are algae?
Evolution of plastids
Chlorophyta, the green algae
Explore rocky intertidal at low tide 3:30 p.m.
2nd Week
Taxonomy
Anthophyta, seagrasses
Reproduction and life histories
Pressing seaweeds
3rd Week
Phaeophyceae, the brown algae
Web critique due
Explore at low tide 3:30 p.m.
4th Week
Rhodophyta, the red algae
Web authoring
5th Week
Student projects: place your order, pick your species
Biomechanics I: morphology and wave motion
Biomechanics II: breaking seaweeds
Explore at low tide 2:30 p.m.
6th Week
Phytoplankton
Plankton tow
Communities: rocky intertidal, kelp forests, estuaries, salt marsh, deep sea drift
Index web page due
7th Week
Chemical factors: nutrients, CO2, O2, pH, salinity
Physical factors: light and temperature
Work on projects
8th Week
Practice lab practical
Biological interactions: predation, parasites, competition, symbioses
Work on projects
Submit presentation titles
9th Week
Symposium: student presentations
Work on projects
Thanksgiving Dinner at Algal Acres
10th Week
Anthropogenic effects
Invasive species, harmful algal blooms
Tropical Communities: reefs, lagoons, mangroves
Web project due