Marine Science - Unit 2 Marine biology
Moreton Bay Studies is a day program supporting Unit 2, Marine Biology. Students, in the role of marine scientists, use a stratified sampling process to conduct an ecological survey of sites in Moreton Bay (Quandamooka) evaluating the effectiveness of a Marine National Park zone.
On board our vessel Inspiration, field studies are primarily focused on the marine ecosystems around Green and St Helena Islands and include:
Investigation of a marine ecosystem to determine factors of population dynamics including assessing abiotic factors limiting the distribution and abundance of fish species.
Collection of data using a variety of sampling techniques BRUV (Baited Remote Underwater Video) and UROV (Underwater Remote Operated Vehicle).
Methods to measure abiotic data (including salinity, temperature, depth and Secchi depth).
Procedures for the identification of organisms and ecosystems (eg. field guides, classification systems).
Assessment of the limitations of the chosen field technique (stratified sampling)
At our Centre, students use a longitudinal data set and application of data analysis techniques to:
Determine and compare species diversity across two spatially variant sites (Simpsons diversity index).
Identify, analyse and interpret relationships between abiotic factors and the abundance and distribution of a species in an ecosystem (correlation matrix and descriptive statistics).
Apply data analysis techniques to identify relationships in the data and test for statistical significance of the effects.
Communicate experimental findings about ecosystem dynamics using graphical techniques including standard error bars.
Pre-program resources introduce students to the study context and methodologies.
Post-program support includes exemplars to continue data analysis. Access to the Moreton Bay EEC complete data set is available.
Curriculum Intent - Marine Science 2025 v1.3
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Unit 2: Marine Biology Students will collect data using sampling methods to support Marine Science Unit 2, Topic 1: Marine ecology and biodiversity, and specifically: - Investigate a local ecosystem to determine factors of population dynamics (density or distribution) and assess abiotic components, including - estimating populations, e.g. survey count/direct observation.
- Assess the limitations of a chosen field technique.
- Interpret field data from a local ecosystem.
- Identify and describe marine species, using field guides and identification keys.
- Calculate the biodiversity of a marine ecosystem using Simpson's diversity index (SDI).
IA1: Data test - data is available to assist with the formulation of this assessment.
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