Marine Science for Cambridge International AS & A Level: Coursebook

468 Pages·2020·43.194 MB·English

by  Matthew Parkin, Melissa Lorenz, Claire Brown, Julian Robson

Marine Science
for Cambridge International AS & A Level
COURSEBOOK
Matthew Parkin, Melissa Lorenz, Claire Brown & Jules Robson
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Contents
Introduction
How to use this series
How to use this book
Introduction to command words
1 Water
1.1 Particle theory and bonding
1.2 Solubility in water
1.3 Density and pressure
2 Earth processes
2.1 Tectonic processes
2.2 Weathering, erosion and sedimentation
2.3 Tides and ocean currents
3 Interactions in marine ecosystems
3.1 Interactions
3.2 Feeding relationships
3.3 Nutrient cycles
4 Classification and biodiversity
4.1 The classification of marine organisms
4.2 Key groups of marine organisms
4.3 Biodiversity
4.4 Populations and sampling techniques
5 Examples of marine ecosystems
5.1 The open ocean
5.2 The tropical coral reef
5.3 The rocky shore
5.4 The sandy shore
5.5 The mangrove forest
Practical skills
Introduction to practical skills
Experimental planning including making estimates, predictions and hypotheses
Presentation of data and observations
Evaluation of procedures and data
Analysis of data and conclusions
6 Physiology of marine organisms
6.1 General cell structure
6.2 Movement of substances
6.3 Gas exchange
6.4 Osmoregulation
7 Energy
7.1 Photosynthesis
7.2 Chemosynthesis
7.3 Respiration
8 Fisheries for the future
8.1 Life cycles
8.2 Sustainable fisheries
8.3 Marine aquaculture
9 Human impacts on marine ecosystems
9.1 Ecological impacts of human activities
9.2 Global warming and its impact
9.3 Ocean acidification
9.4 Conservation of marine ecosystems
Acknowledgements
Introduction
This second edition of the Cambridge International AS & A Level Marine Science Coursebook has
been written to help you acquire the knowledge and skills required by the Cambridge International
AS & A level Marine Science syllabus (9693). The book provides full coverage of the revised syllabus
and reflects the slightly different demands of the new content.
The chapters are arranged in the same sequence as the syllabus. Chapters 1 to 5 cover the AS
syllabus and Chapters 6 to 9 cover the full A Level syllabus. Each chapter has similar features to help
you, including: key words and command words, maths skills, test yourself questions, practical
activities, case studies that look at real-life scenarios, and exam-style questions. Look at the ‘How to
use this book’ section for more information about each feature.
In order to succeed in your course, you will need to develop a number of skills. These include
applying your knowledge to unfamiliar situations, using mathematical and statistical skills to
determine population sizes, species diversity etc., as well as recalling key facts. Working through the
questions and activities in this coursebook will help you to hone these skills.
Although the book is arranged as a series of discrete chapters, it is important to remember that the
topics and skills in these chapters link to each other. Practical skills are an important part of the AS
& A Level Marine Science course. You should become familiar with certain ‘core’ practicals, and
understand how to plan practical investigations and analyse the data. Most chapters contains
practical activities for you to carry out and develop your skills. The exam-style questions at the end of
each chapter also include practical of each chapter include practical questions the practical skills
chapter explains the nature of scientific investigation. Further exercises, exam-style questions and
practical activities can be found in the Cambridge International AS & A Level Workbook published by
Cambridge University Press.
Marine science is a unique and engaging subject that requires you to have an understanding of
subjects such as biology, geography, geology, physics, chemistry and even sociology. This coursebook
will cover material from all of these areas and look at both established knowledge and some of the
recent exciting developments in our understanding of the marine world. It will help you to appreciate
topical issues, such as the effects of human activity, by looking at real case studies. Our oceans are
the lifeblood of the planet and they have never been as threatened by human activity as they are now.
Never a day goes by without some mention of new threats to the marine environment, be it plastic,
climate change or overfishing. A thorough knowledge of marine science is essential if we are to
prevent further damage and educate the world about them. People study marine science for a variety
of reasons: a route into further study through marine science courses at universities; to help develop
careers that are linked to the seas such as fishing, aquaculture or tourism; or simply for pure interest
in our marine world. Whatever reasons you have for studying marine science, we hope you enjoy
learning about this fascinating subject.
The information in this section is taken from the Cambridge International syllabus based on the 9693
syllabus for examination from 2022. You should always refer to the appropriate syllabus document for
the year of your examination to confirm the details and for more information. The syllabus document
is available on the Cambridge International website at www.cambridgeinternational.org.

How to use this book
Chapters 1–5 of the coursebook cover the topics that you will study for Cambridge International AS
Level Marine Science. Chapters 6–9 cover the topics that you will study at A Level. Throughout this
book, you will notice lots of different features that will help your learning. These are explained below.
LEARNING INTENTIONS
These set the scene for each chapter, help with navigation through the coursebook and indicate the
important concepts in each topic.
BEFORE YOU START
This contains questions and activities on the topic knowledge that you will need before starting a
chapter.
PRACTICAL ACTIVITY
Practical activities give you the opportunity to test out the theory that you have learnt in a chapter
and investigate a topic for yourself. You will find it particularly helpful to cover the Core practical
activities, as these are taken directly from the AS & A Level Marine Science syllabus.
Test yourself
Test yourself questions appear at the end of each section in a chapter. These give you the chance to
check that you have understood the topic that you have just read about.
REFLECTION
Reflection questions follow on after each practical activity. These ask you to look back on the
practical and encourage you to think about your learning.
SCIENCE IN CONTEXT
This feature presents real-world examples and applications of the content in a chapter,
encouraging you to look further into topics. There are discussion questions at the end which look
at some of the benefits or problems of these applications.
PROJECT
Projects give you the opportunity to work collaboratively with other students. Your group will
explore a particular question or topic, and will then present the outcome via various creative
methods. Afterwards, you can reflect on or assess the project with the ‘Thinking about your
project’ questions.
CASE STUDY
Case studies take an in-depth look at a topic in the chapter and present it in a real-world setting.
This will help you to discuss issues relating to this topic.
Note: This type of box shows extension content that is not part of the syllabus.
MATHS SKILLS
Maths skills contain background information, worked examples and practice questions that will
help you to develop the mathematical awareness that is needed for your Marine Science course.
EXAM-STYLE QUESTIONS
Questions at the end of each chapter provide more demanding exam-style questions, some of which
may require you to use your knowledge from previous chapters.
SELF-EVALUATION CHECKLIST
At the end of each chapter, you will find ‘I can’ statements which match the learning intentions at
the beginning of the chapter. You might find it helpful to rate how confident you are for each of
these statements when you are revising. You should revisit any topics that you rated ‘Needs more
work’ or ‘Almost there’.
Needs more Almost Ready to
I can: See topic…
work there move on

EXTENDED CASE STUDY
Each chapter is followed by a longer case study, which illustrates a more complex topic in a real-
world setting. This will help you to think about this topic and discuss issues relating to it in more
depth.
Practical Skills chapter
This chapter contains some additional features to support your learning.
A Level content
If you are studying A Level Marine Science, you will find that any relevant content beyond AS Level
in this chapter is highlighted in blue font.
EXAMPLES
You will find examples throughout this chapter that present practical activities that you may
encounter as part of your Marine Science course. These conclude with ‘Now you try’ questions that
encourage you to think about various aspects of the practical for yourself.
SUMMARY
At the end of each section in this chapter, you will find a summary. This list summarises the steps
that you should take to complete some of the key skills relating to practical activities.
Introduction to command
words
Command words are verbs used within the questions of examination papers that can give you insight
in how to go about answering the question. These words can help you determine much about the
expected answer for the question that is being presented. Used as clues, these words can help
determine the length and depth of knowledge an answer requires, the appropriate style of response,
and differentiate between similar questions that need different responses. Being comfortable with
the general definitions and standard expectations for each of the command words listed below can
really help you navigate your way through your papers.
Analyse: examine in detail to show meaning, identify elements and the relationship between them
Guidance: This is a higher level, and typically higher mark, question requiring multiple details. Your
response to ‘analyse’ questions is likely to be longer than to other types of questions.
Assess: make an informed judgement
Guidance: This command word will typically be used in a scenario that was not expressly taught
through the syllabus. You will need to pull related information and apply it to the situation to create
your judgement.
Calculate: work out from given facts, figures or information
Guidance: In these questions, you will need to do maths to arrive at the answer. Make sure to
include any units and show your working.
Comment: give an informed opinion
Guidance: These are shorter response questions where you will apply general knowledge to a new
scenario. Make sure you justify your opinion with supporting details.
Compare: identify / comment on similarities and/or differences
Guidance: These questions vary in length so use the provided marks to determine how many points
of comparison you need to provide. Make sure you do not repeat the same points within your answer
– each mark will only be given once no matter how many times you have reworded it.
Consider: review and respond to given information
Guidance:These questions are higher level and generally require data analysis in the context of a
case study.
Contrast: identify / comment on differences
Guidance: These questions vary in length so use the provided marks to determine how many points
of contrast you need to provide. Focus entirely on the differences between the provided situations.
Define: give precise meaning
Guidance: Try to word your definitions as precisely as possible with all major identifying features.
This is a concise response that should not be longer than a sentence.
Demonstrate: show how or give an example
Guidance: Make sure to provide a step-by-step method for how the process being asked about works
or use an example to illustrate the process.
Describe: state the points of a topic / give characteristics and main features
Guidance: Most commonly confused with ‘explain’, ‘describe’ means to answer what is happening.
This could be in reference to describing the data (for example, it increases or decreases), the
process, or the meaning of a term. At no point should you try to write about how or why something is
happening, as that is the meaning of the ‘explain’ command word.
Develop: take forward to a more advanced stage or build upon given information
Guidance:This term is asking you to use background knowledge in a novel situation to predict the
step or process in the situation. This question requires a higher-level response.
Discuss: write about issue(s) or topic(s) in depth in a structured way
Guidance: Questions using this command word are generally longer response and required the use
of details to support the your knowledge about a topic. In general, responses to ‘discuss’ questions
require the use of multiple well-written paragraphs.
Evaluate: judge or calculate the quality, importance, amount or value of something
Guidance: For ‘evaluate’ questions, you will need to create an opinion or choose a side about the
topic in question. You will then need to support your thesis using details from either your background
knowledge or information provided within the question.
Examine: investigate closely, in detail
Guidance: These questions typically will have you look over a data set to pull information out of.
Depending on the style of this type of question, 1-2 sentences is probably sufficient, but use the
marks provided to determine how much detail is needed.
Explain: set out purposes or reasons / make the relationships between things evident / provide why
and/or how and support with relevant evidence
Guidance: Often confused with ‘describe’, ‘explain’ questions require you to write about why or how
something happens. In order to succeed with these questions, it is important to provide reasons and
clear connections within your answer. Unless expressly stated, it is not necessary to outline what is
happening, just why or how.
Give: produce an answer from a given source or recall / memory
Guidance: Questions using ‘give’ are generally short response and may not even need a complete
sentence. They may require you to recall something from memory or locate in on a graph or data set.
Identify: name / select / recognise
Guidance: This command word requires a brief, direct response.
Justify: support a case with evidence / argument
Guidance: Used to encourage you to include many details, this command term will be seen with
high-mark questions. You should prepare a well-organised response of at least one paragraph. You
may also need to create an opinion statement based on the question asked, indicating which part of
the argument you are supporting.
Outline: set out main points
Guidance: While you can use a paragraph to answer an ‘outline’ question, a detailed, bulleted list is
also appropriate. Make sure to include enough detail to clarify each point. This command word is
often used to gain an understanding of a process or theory.
Predict: suggest what may happen based on available information
Guidance: Questions using this command term do not expect you to get the information through
recall. Rather, the expectation is that you can use background information in conjunction with the
information or data provided in the question to make a best guess about what may happen next. For
example, you may see ‘predict’ when discussing data or behavior of organisms or the physical ocean.
Sketch: make a simple freehand drawing showing the key features, taking care over proportions
Guidance: Use a pencil to draw the process or graph being requested. Make sure to label major
features as necessary. If data is provided, make sure your proportions are appropriate to represent
the numbers given (for example trophic pyramids).
State: express in clear terms
Guidance: This command term indicates that the response needed will be short. This can be used to
have you identify important data points on a graph, provide the term that matches a definition, or in
other situations where only a one- or two-word response would be appropriate.
Suggest: apply knowledge and understanding to situations where there are a range of valid
responses in order to make proposals
Guidance:Similar to ‘predict’, ‘suggest’ asks you to combine information from the question with
other information learned during the course. Generally, ‘suggest’ questions have a wide variety of
appropriate responses that could be used to produce a successful answer. Make sure to provide a
clear line of reasoning for the suggestion being made.
Summarise: select and present the main points, without detail
Guidance: Similar to ‘outline’, a bulleted list can be appropriate for a question using the
‘summarise’ command term. Make sure to list out all of the important aspects of the process or
theory being asked about, but refrain from adding unnecessary details or evidence unless specifically
asked for it in the question (that is, if they ask you to summarise and explain).