Friday, April 14, 2006
Another chance to Win a On-Line Course for Divers worth $66.55
To win this great prize, worth $66.55, just subscribe to the free SCUBA News (ISSN 1476-8011) then e-mail SCUBA News with "Beautiful Oceans" as the subject line.
This on-line course provides a good introduction
to coral reefs. However, it also gives much
information to interest experienced reef
watchers. I certainly learned things from it,
and I've been diving for over 20 years, have
a biology degree and regularly consult half a
library of sea-life and marine
biology books. It is also refreshing to
see a project with such a commitment to
preserving the marine environment that they
donate 10% of their profits to marine conservation.
Don't be put off by the term "course". You don't
have to attend any virtual lectures and one of the
main aims is to be fun. You are given access to
the web site where you can see marine videos and
read the course materials. You can work through
at your own pace, and if you need any help, or
want to talk to other students, you use their web
forum. Optionally, you can get the course book
as a pdf file or printed manual.
The manual is well-designed, clear to read with
a photograph or diagram on nearly every page.
Unlike other marine biology texts, it is
specifically aimed at divers but is not just an
identification guide. It instead helps you
understand the layout of a reef and why animals
and plants that live in each reef zone do so.
Organisms are not discussed in isolation but
relative to their environment and behaviour.
A full index would have been helpful though.
Throughout the course there are boxed "quick
quizzes" which reinforce the message given in
the previous pages. Other asides include
"Science Facts" and "Did you know?" which were
some of my favourite bits of information. For
example, "...The plural of fish is 'fishes'
when referring to a group that comprises more
than one species, but 'fish' when referring to
a group that comprises just one species."
The course doesn't try to give a comprehensive
account of a large number of animals. If this
is what you are looking for then you would be
better off buying an identification guide of
the marine life of your diving destination.
What it does do is concentrate on just a few
typical organisms of each coral reef zone:
shore, reef flats, drop-off, etc. It teaches
how to relate the animal's behaviour or
structure to the conditions in which it lives.
--
Subscribe to SCUBA News (ISSN 1476-8011) for more free news, articles, diving reports and marine life descriptions - http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/news.html
This on-line course provides a good introduction
to coral reefs. However, it also gives much
information to interest experienced reef
watchers. I certainly learned things from it,
and I've been diving for over 20 years, have
a biology degree and regularly consult half a
library of sea-life and marine
biology books. It is also refreshing to
see a project with such a commitment to
preserving the marine environment that they
donate 10% of their profits to marine conservation.
Don't be put off by the term "course". You don't
have to attend any virtual lectures and one of the
main aims is to be fun. You are given access to
the web site where you can see marine videos and
read the course materials. You can work through
at your own pace, and if you need any help, or
want to talk to other students, you use their web
forum. Optionally, you can get the course book
as a pdf file or printed manual.
The manual is well-designed, clear to read with
a photograph or diagram on nearly every page.
Unlike other marine biology texts, it is
specifically aimed at divers but is not just an
identification guide. It instead helps you
understand the layout of a reef and why animals
and plants that live in each reef zone do so.
Organisms are not discussed in isolation but
relative to their environment and behaviour.
A full index would have been helpful though.
Throughout the course there are boxed "quick
quizzes" which reinforce the message given in
the previous pages. Other asides include
"Science Facts" and "Did you know?" which were
some of my favourite bits of information. For
example, "...The plural of fish is 'fishes'
when referring to a group that comprises more
than one species, but 'fish' when referring to
a group that comprises just one species."
The course doesn't try to give a comprehensive
account of a large number of animals. If this
is what you are looking for then you would be
better off buying an identification guide of
the marine life of your diving destination.
What it does do is concentrate on just a few
typical organisms of each coral reef zone:
shore, reef flats, drop-off, etc. It teaches
how to relate the animal's behaviour or
structure to the conditions in which it lives.
--
Subscribe to SCUBA News (ISSN 1476-8011) for more free news, articles, diving reports and marine life descriptions - http://www.scubatravel.co.uk/news.html
# posted by SCUBA News @ 3:09 pm 
