• Evolutionary relationships among invertebrate taxa
  
  
• The major body plans and morphological structures of invertebrates
  
  
• The habitats in which different invertebrates live
  
  
• The physiological and ecological functions of structures and systems
  
  
• How diverse invertebrates feed and acquire nutrients
  
  
• Invertebrate’s diverse life histories, including life cycles and modes of reproduction
  
  
• Ecological interactions involving marine invertebrates
  

Students’ Skills: Within the context of information on marine-invertebrate biology, the course is designed to introduce and strengthen a variety of skills and attitudes. The instructor strives to

• Provide an academic setting that emphasizes students’ responsibility for their own learning and achievement
  
  
• Promote students’ active learning, individually and in small teams
  
  
• Provide experience in many of the laboratory and field skills associated with studying marine invertebrates (e.g., collection, observation, identification, dissection)
  
  
• Expose students to on-going research so they appreciate that science is an active process to understand nature, rather than a collection of existing facts