Course overview
This course focuses on the diversity of multicellular organisms, with evolution as the central theme. It addresses key questions in biology: What are plants and animals? What about other types of organisms? How do they evolve? How do they function? How do they interact with other organisms and the environment? These questions are answered by analysing the scientific evidence that supports current understanding.
Students in this course come from a very broad range of programs and academic backgrounds. Learning is supported by online resources, active-learning lectures, regular quizzes, workshops to practice application of knowledge, and laboratory practicals. The diversity of life on Earth, evolution and ecology focus of this course is complemented by different aspects of biology in Biology I: Molecules, Genes and Cells, and Biology I: Human Perspectives. Biology spans an incredibly wide range of themes. Suitable preparation for studying Level 2 courses in biology-based disciplines generally requires two semesters of Level 1 BIOLOGY.
Course learning outcomes
- Explain how evolution by natural selection has affected the diversity of organisms on earth
- Predict how selection pressures will influence the traits of individuals in a population
- Explain how the structures and their functions in individual organisms enable them to respond to the main problems of growth and development, survival and reproduction, especially plants, animals and other eukaryotes
- Formulate plausible hypotheses to explain the origin and function of biological traits in organisms
- Explain how the key ecological processes affect the distribution and abundance of organisms
- Analyse how these ecological processes affect selected populations
- Analyse and interpret experimental data and appreciate the limitations of experimental design and the critical importance of controls
- Write practical reports and present the experimental results in a valid scientific manner
- Display scientific curiosity and to appreciate the importance of asking questions