(OCEN 201) Oceanography and Marine Science
Introduction to oceanography, including structure and formation of ocean basins and their characteristic features, properties of sea water, distribution of temperature and dissolved substances in the ocean, ocean currents, waves, tides, interrelationships of the biotic community with the environment, and man and the sea. Several field trips will be taken. $120 fee required.
| Credit Hours | 3.0 Lecture |
|---|---|
| Prerequisites | Any college-level natural science course of CHEM, BIOL, PHYS, PHSC, or GEOL |
| Offered | Fall, Winter, Spring |
| Programs | Pacific Studies (BA), Biology (BS), Pacific Studies Minor, Introduction to Conservation Biology Minor, Introduction to Natural Sciences Minor, Introduction to Marine Biology Minor |
Course Learning Outcomes
- Students should gain an appreciation for ocean exploration and the history of that exploration.
- Students should gain an overall view of the interaction between the ocean and atmosphere.
- Students should understand what waves, currents, and tides are and their causes.
- Students should understand the plate tectonic processes that relate to the oceans and their history.
- Students should understand the coastal processes that produce a shoreline and gain an appreciation for the dynamic nature of coastal environments.
- Students should understand the importance of marine resources, what they are, and how they are used as well as the impacts humans can have for good and bad on those resources.
- Students should have a basic understanding of the marine environment and the variety of life and life processes to be found within it.
- Students should know some of the hazards associated with the ocean (i.e. hurricanes, tsunamis, etc.) and the processes that produce them.