Lecture 21:  Spineless Wonders:  Marine Invertebrates

1.  What are the major differences between invertebrates, chordates, and vertebrates?

2.  Where do coral reefs develop?  What are important constraints on their development?

3.  What is meant by symbiosis?  Why are coral reefs a good example of this?

4.  What causes coral bleaching?  What is happening when a coral "bleaches"?

Lecture 22:  Sustainable Seas:  Marine Fisheries
Focus Question:  Where have all the fish gone?

1.  What is the connection between upwelling areas and productive fishing areas?
2.  Where in the ocean does most of the fishing take place?
3.  What is meant by "bycatch" or "bykill"?
4.  What does Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) mean?
5.  What are 3 major fishing industry collapses that have occurred in historic time?
 

Lecture 23:  Charismatic Megafauna:  Marine Mammals
Focus Question:  How have marine mammals adapted to life in the ocean?

1.  What are general characteristics of all mammals?
2.  How have marine mammals solved the problem of keeping warm in cold water?
3.  How have marine mammals solved the problem of diving to great depths & pressures?
4.  How have marne mammals solved the problem of communicating with eachother under water?
5.  How have marine mammals solved the problem of living with no fresh water?
6.  How have marine mammals solved the problem of finding their way around and hunting in low visibility water?
7.  Why were whales hunted so extensively in the 18th-20th centuries?
8.  Where is there a whale sanctuary?

Lecture 24:  The Oceans and Climate, Part 1:  Hurricanes!

1.  How does the atmosphere move heat around on the Earth's Surface?
2.  How does the ocean move heat around on the Earth's Surface?
3.  What role does ice play in keeping the poles cold?
4.  Why don't hurricanes develop in cold water?

5.  What are the two major controls in the development of a hurricane?

6.  What are "hot towers" and why are they important in hurricane development?

Lecture 25:  The Oceans and Climate, Part 2
Focus Question:How does ENSO (El Niño - Southern Oscillation) affect global climate?
1.  How does the atmosphere move heat around on the Earth's Surface?
2.  How does the ocean move heat around on the Earth's Surface?
3.  What role does ice play in keeping the poles cold?
4.  Where does El Niño occur?
5.  During an El  Niño year, what ocean conditions change in the equatorial Pacific?
6.  What is La Niña?
7.  How often does El Niño occur?

Lecture 26:  The Oceans and Past Climate
Focus Question:  What are the natural controls of climate change?
1.  Why does Earth experience climate?
2.  What is meant by external mechanisms of climate change?
3.  What is meant by internal mechanisms of climate change?
4.   How can we find out about past climate changes from ocean and ice records?
6.  What are greenhouse gases?  Which one is most common?
7.  What do greenhouse gases do?
8.  How far into the past do we need to go to find the same high amounts of CO2 as we now have?

Lecture 27:  Last Class:  Energy and the Ocean, and the Future of the Ocean
Focus Question:  How could a warmer ocean and a warmer atmosphere impact society?
1.  If we do not change our current fossil fuel consumption rate, what will happen to CO2 and surface temperature?
2.  What happens to most CO2 in the atmosphere anyway,-where does it go?
3.  What kinds of changes can we expect in sea ice, sea level, and sea storms with increased warming?

4.  Where will the greatest impact be in the oceans in the near future as the world continues to develop renewable and nonrenewable energy resources?

5.  Why are we investing in renewable resources when so many nonrenewable resources remain?