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Unit of Study SCIN1005 - Organisms and Environments (2025)

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Unit Snapshot

  • Enrolment information

    There will be a 2-day compulsory residential for Online students that will be held on the Lismore campus. Please refer to http://scu.edu.au/timetables for further information on timetables.

Unit description

Examines the evolution and diversity of life on earth and introduces the principles of species classification and naming. Consideration is given to the individual, population, community and ecosystem levels of organisation. Aspects of human ecology and human impact on the environment are introduced. Field trips  will introduce students to qualitative observation of ecosystems and quantitative analysis of organisms in their environment.

Unit content

1 Overview of the diversity of life, taxonomy, and classification

2 Evolution and speciation

3 Structure and function of plants and fungi

4 Structure and function of animals

5 Ecology fundamentals I: interactions, population ecology, and community structure

6 Ecology fundamentals II: Community dynamics, disturbance, biogeography, and conservation

 

Availabilities

Location Domestic International
Lismore
Term4
Term4
National Marine Science Centre Coffs Harbour
Term4
Term4
Online
Term4
Term4

Learning outcomes

Unit Learning Outcomes express learning achievement in terms of what a student should know, understand and be able to do on completion of a unit. These outcomes are aligned with the graduate attributes. The unit learning outcomes and graduate attributes are also the basis of evaluating prior learning.

On completion of this unit, students should be able to:

describe the different scales of life within the environment and the evolution and diversity of organisms

understand the principles of naming and classifying species and apply taxonomic keys for species identification

undertake field sampling to describe and assess the characteristics of species, populations, and communities

effectively illustrate and present biological concepts at the organism to ecosystem scales.

Prescribed learning resources

Prescribed Texts
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Prescribed Resources/Equipment
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Prescribed Learning Resources may change in future Teaching Periods.