Marine Bio course with diving

[billt4sf]

Hello Fog people!

There is a marine Bio course taught at SF City College that has an adjunct diving component. The classes the Tuesday nights 6:30 pm - 9:30 pm, and the diving is on weekends four times during the Semester.

The guy who runs it is Dr. James Grass: Grass's Page

I thought some folks on this board might be interested.

- Bill

 

[g1138]

What exactly is on the course syllabus?

 

[3D diver]

Fog people...:cool2:...missed that the first read.

I think someone mentioned this course a while ago, sounds pretty cool.

Please post more as it progresses.

 

[jmish]

I'm going to plug this because I've taken it. Dr Grass is very knowledgable and has a wonderful teaching style. As a diver taking the class, you have the option to do several dives with the class where you survey the marine life.

Highly recommended.

 

[drbill]

Good to know.

I moved to California back in 1969 to teach marine biology on SCUBA at a private high school where as many as half the student body were certified divers. Pretty awesome to have my lab just 150 ft from the ocean and great kelp forests to dive in. My teaching philosophy as head of the science dept was to utilize the "natural laboratory" of Catalina Island and the surrounding waters to teach science. MUCH better than sitting in a lab reeking of formalin dissecting long dead critters.

 

[billt4sf]

My teaching philosophy as head of the science dept was to utilize the "natural laboratory" of Catalina Island and the surrounding waters to teach science. MUCH better than sitting in a lab reeking of formalin dissecting long dead critters.

Dr. Bill:

You got it right, man! I am a science teacher myself, and IT IS ALL ABOUT HANDS-ON. Not the BS way they want everyone to do in schools now (teach to the test and forget about anything fun). Where is the CA science standard that "Science is cool" I keep asking?:>!?!

- Bill

 

[billt4sf]

Thought I would give a short update here. We finished our first dive weekend in Dr. Grass's course -- it was GREAT ! We did three dives, two on Sat at Breakwater and the third on Sunday at a nearby beach (at the foot of Hoffman St).

We were tasked with identifying 20 or so organisms in the dive environment. Each of the course participants had a dive buddy that was a) familiar with the organisms and b) was a very experienced diver. Most of the course participants were fairly new to diving so we relied on them to help us find and identify the organisms and for some dive help, too. They were great!

By creating a situation where the students had to look carefully, you see so much more than just tooling around on a nice dive. And you can bring specific knowledge of various organisms back to your knowledge base for future dives.

Someone asked about the course syllabus: Here are some of the topics covered: Ecology, Geology of the Ocean, Water, Waves & Tides, Marine Microbes, Invertebrates, Fishes, Mammals, Estuaries, ....

There is no HW except for reading and going over your notes from the class.

Both me and my wife are really enjoying this course. I should study more!

- Bill

 

[Peter_C]

We did three dives, two on Sat at Breakwater and the third on Sunday at a nearby beach (at the foot of Hoffman St).

- Bill

That would be McAbee Beach next to El Torrito at the bottom of Hoffman Ave. Had to look it up on a map.