- Course Code
- BI 25Z1
- Credit Points
- 15
- Course Coordinator
- TBC
Pre-requisites
Overview
Ninety-seven percent of living organisms are invertebrates belonging to around 31 phyla. Their diversity of form and organisation is astonishing and their classification complex and controversial. Their life styles and life histories are frequently bizarre and their occupation of diverse, often hostile, environments spectacular. They are a major food resource for many vertebrates, including man; some wreak havoc through parasitism whilst others inflict enormous damage as agricultural pests. This course briefly reviews classification of invertebrate animals and examines functional aspects of their biology: locomotion, nutrition, reproduction, and nervous co-ordination and control. Practicals address the important biological principles and encourage development of basic scientific skills including experimental design, hypothesis testing and data analysis in the context of individual and group learning.
Structure
12 weeks - 3 lectures and 1 three-hour laboratory every other week.
To pass this course a pass must be achieved in BOTH the theory exam and the in-course assessment.
Assessment
1st Attempt: A two-hour examination paper based mainly on the lecture course and comprising 60 multiple choice questions and 6 short essay questions (70%) and continuous in-course assessment of practical work (30%).
Resit: A one-hour resit examination based on the laboratory work of the course for those candidates who have failed the continuous assessment. And/or a two-hour written examination in the same format as the main examination, for those candidates who have failed the theory examination.