ST. PETERSBURG COLLEGE

 

APPROVED COURSE OUTLINE

 

 

OCE        2001L                    OCEANOGRAPHY LABORATORY                        ___1__

Prefix     Number                                           Course Title                                             Cr.Hrs.

 

 

A.     Course Description:

 

Pre or corequisite:  OCE 2001.  This laboratory course introduces the student to basic principles of physical, geological, chemical, and biological oceanography. Topics will include the analysis of ocean basin features, properties of seawater, the physical properties driving ocean currents, identification of marine organisms, and other related items. This laboratory will include field trips. 45 contact hours.

 

 

B.      Major Learning Outcomes:

 

         1.   The student will demonstrate an understanding of the rock cycle, the three types of rocks and how they are formed.

 

         2.   The student will demonstrate an understanding of the geological processes that continually change the sea floor and shorelines.

 

         3.   The student will demonstrate an understanding of the features of the sea floor from bathymetric maps.

 

         4.   The student will demonstrate an understanding of the physical and chemical factors affiliated with sea water and how these factors influence biological and physical processes of the oceans.

 

         5.   The student will demonstrate an understanding of the physical forces that control the tides, currents, and waves of the oceans.

 

         6.   The student will demonstrate an understanding of common marine plants and animals.

 

         7.   The student will demonstrate an understanding of the biological communities that live in the sea.

 

C.     Course Objectives Stated in Performance Terms:

 

         1.   The student will demonstrate an understanding of the rock cycle; the three types of rocks and how they are formed by

 

               a.   recognizing igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks and describing the processes that formed each rock type.

 

               b.   identifying some of the common minerals of rocks examined in the laboratory.

 

         2.   The student will demonstrate an understanding of the geological processes that continually change the sea floor and shorelines by:

 

               a.   explaining the development of turbidity currents, longshore currents, and density currents.

 

               b.   identifying sources of material for different beach types by knowing the beach location and local geography.

 

         3.   The student will demonstrate an understanding of the features of the sea floor from bathymetric maps by:

        

                a.  identifying and describing the formation of the extensive oceanic ridge and rise system.

              

               b.   explaining the differences between ridges and rises, trenches and canyons, fracture zones and transform faults.

 

         4.   The student will demonstrate an understanding of the physical and chemical factors affiliated with sea water and how these factors influence biological and physical processes of the oceans by:

 

               a.   measuring salinity by titration, conductivity, evaporation, or refraction and explaining the relationships between various methods.

 

               b.   identifying thermoclines, haloclines, and pycnoclines from graphs.

 

               c.   producing T-S (temperature-salinity) diagrams from raw data.

 

               d.   explaining the affect of salinity on the physiology and distribution of organisms.

 

         5.   The student will demonstrate an understanding of the physical forces that control the tides, currents, and waves of the oceans by:

 

               a.   reproducing earth, sun, and moon models explaining the affect of mass attraction on the oceans.

 

               b.   describing a thermohaline (density) currents.

 

               c.   explaining the forces that generate waves and the anatomy of a wave from experiments with wave tanks or tables.

 

         6.   The student will demonstrate an understanding of common marine plants and animals by:

 

               a.   identifying marine organisms from dichotomous keys or other printed materials.

 

               b.   identifying the major characteristics of common marine taxa, including those which are easily fossilized.

 

         7.   The student will demonstrate an understanding of the biological communities that live in the sea by:

 

               a.   explaining the interrelationships among marine organisms.

 

               b.   producing a likely food web from a grouping of marine organisms.

 

               c.   explaining the role of death and decomposition in the recycling of marine nutrients.

 

 

D.     Criteria Performance Standard:

 

Upon successful completion of the course the student will, with a minimum of 70% accuracy, demonstrate mastery of each of the above stated objectives through classroom measures developed by individual course instructors.

 

 

DBT 11/17/93;Effective 19931

 

 

3 Yr Review 1999-2000.

 

 

C&I 1/27/04, BOT 2/17/04, eff20041.