School: Science

This unit information may be updated and amended immediately prior to semester. To ensure you have the correct outline, please check it again at the beginning of semester.

Your unit may be subject to government or third party COVID-19 vaccination requirements. Please consider this before enrolling in this unit, and speak with the unit coordinator if this raises any concerns.

  • Unit Title

    Australian Biota
  • Unit Code

    SCI2118
  • Year

    2022
  • Enrolment Period

    1
  • Version

    2
  • Credit Points

    15
  • Full Year Unit

    N
  • Mode of Delivery

    On Campus
  • Unit Coordinator

    Dr Robert Allyn DAVIS

Description

This unit will introduce students to the nature and diversity of Australian plants and animals, their taxonomy and identification. Participants will study major vascular plant and vertebrate animal groups and be able to identify them using appropriate tools. The Australian biota will be considered in the context of the world biota, and their unique features will be discussed in terms of their biogeography and evolutionary history. Note that laboratory sessions in this unit will make use of animal tissues and products. Activities abide by the relevant NHMRC guidelines and are approved by the ECU Animal Ethics Committee where appropriate.

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this unit students should be able to:

  1. Identify significant groups of Australian plants and animals by using the basic principles of biological taxonomy
  2. Describe major events influencing the evolution and distributions of key elements of the Australian biota, including isolation, adaptive radiation and secondary colonisation.
  3. Use appropriate tools including regional floras and faunas, field guides and digital resources to identify plants and animals.

Unit Content

  1. Australian native mammals: prototherian and metatherian mammals, native eutherians (rodents, bats and marine animals).
  2. Human impacts on the biota: consequences of Indigenous and European colonisation; introduction of alien species; interaction between native and introduced taxa.
  3. Introduction to biological taxonomy.
  4. Origins, diversity and distribution of major groups of non-mammalian vertebrates: fishes, amphibians, reptiles and birds.
  5. Plant morphology: features required for plant identification.
  6. Plants of selected significant biomes and geographical areas: heathlands, eucalypt woodlands and forests, salt-lake communities; the Pilbara and other arid regions, South-West Floristic Region, seagrasses and other significant aquatic plants.
  7. Recognition and identification of major elements of the Australian flora: Fabaceae, Mimosaceae and Caesalpiniaceae, Myrtaceae, Proteaceae, significant monocots, and other selected taxa.
  8. Recognition and identification of weeds and feral animals.
  9. Structure and use of taxonomic keys: hardcopy and digital floras and faunas, resources relevant to Australian biota.
  10. The history of the Australian continent: Rodinia, Pangaea, Gondwana and its break-up; post-Cretaceous era.

Learning Experience

Students will attend on campus classes as well as engage in learning activities through ECU's LMS

JoondalupMount LawleySouth West (Bunbury)
Semester 213 x 3 hour labNot Offered13 x 3 hour lab
Semester 213 x 2 hour lectureNot Offered13 x 2 hour lecture

For more information see the Semester Timetable

WIL - Field Experience

Students will undertake, and be assessed on, authentic activities through engagement with industry and community partners.

Students experience an environment where they observe and/or participate in the application of theoretical knowledge and skills in a professional setting, under the supervision of an expert or professional in the field. Examples include study tours, observation, shadowing, fieldwork, industry tours.

Additional Learning Experience Information

Students in this unit learn through recorded or live lectures and laboratory classes. Laboratories have a distinct focus on developing the skills of identifying Australian animals and plants. Students collect plant material to compile a herbarium and utilise relevant resources to identify plant species. This unit may include field trips. Lecture recordings are available.

Assessment

GS1 GRADING SCHEMA 1 Used for standard coursework units

Students please note: The marks and grades received by students on assessments may be subject to further moderation. All marks and grades are to be considered provisional until endorsed by the relevant School Progression Panel.

Due to the professional competency skill development associated with this Unit, student attendance/participation within listed in-class activities and/or online activities including discussion boards is compulsory. Students failing to meet participation standards as outlined in the unit information may be awarded an I Grade (Fail - incomplete). Students who are unable to meet this requirement for medical or other reasons must seek the approval of the unit coordinator.

ON CAMPUS
TypeDescriptionValue
AssignmentLiterature review20%
Laboratory WorkIndividual and group laboratory work20%
PortfolioHerbarium collection20%
ExaminationEnd of semester examination40%

Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005)

For the purposes of considering a request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005), inherent requirements for this subject are articulated in the Unit Description, Learning Outcomes and Assessment Requirements of this entry. The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the support for students with disabilities or medical conditions can be found at the Access and Inclusion website.

Academic Integrity

Integrity is a core value at Edith Cowan University, and it is expected that ECU students complete their assessment tasks honestly and with acknowledgement of other people's work. This means that assessment tasks must be completed individually (unless it is an authorised group assessment task) and any sources used must be referenced.

Breaches of academic integrity can include:

Plagiarism

Copying the words, ideas or creative works of other people, without referencing in accordance with stated University requirements. Students need to seek approval from the Unit Coordinator within the first week of study if they intend to use some of their previous work in an assessment task (self-plagiarism).

Unauthorised collaboration (collusion)

Working with other students and submitting the same or substantially similar work or portions of work when an individual submission was required. This includes students knowingly providing others with copies of their own work to use in the same or similar assessment task(s).

Contract cheating

Organising a friend, a family member, another student or an external person or organisation (e.g. through an online website) to complete or substantially edit or refine part or all of an assessment task(s) on their behalf.

Cheating in an exam

Using or having access to unauthorised materials in an exam or test.

Serious outcomes may be imposed if a student is found to have committed one of these breaches, up to and including expulsion from the University for repeated or serious acts.

ECU's policies and more information about academic integrity can be found on the student academic integrity website.

All commencing ECU students are required to complete the Academic Integrity Module.

Assessment Extension

In some circumstances, Students may apply to their Unit Coordinator to extend the due date of their Assessment Task(s) in accordance with ECU's Assessment, Examination and Moderation Procedures - for more information visit https://askus2.ecu.edu.au/s/article/000001386.

Special Consideration

Students may apply for Special Consideration in respect of a final unit grade, where their achievement was affected by Exceptional Circumstances as set out in the Assessment, Examination and Moderation Procedures - for more information visit https://askus2.ecu.edu.au/s/article/000003318.

SCI2118|2|1

School: Science

This unit information may be updated and amended immediately prior to semester. To ensure you have the correct outline, please check it again at the beginning of semester.

Your unit may be subject to government or third party COVID-19 vaccination requirements. Please consider this before enrolling in this unit, and speak with the unit coordinator if this raises any concerns.

  • Unit Title

    Australian Biota
  • Unit Code

    SCI2118
  • Year

    2022
  • Enrolment Period

    2
  • Version

    2
  • Credit Points

    15
  • Full Year Unit

    N
  • Mode of Delivery

    On Campus
  • Unit Coordinator

    Dr Robert Allyn DAVIS

Description

This unit will introduce students to the nature and diversity of Australian plants and animals, their taxonomy and identification. Participants will study major vascular plant and vertebrate animal groups and be able to identify them using appropriate tools. The Australian biota will be considered in the context of the world biota, and their unique features will be discussed in terms of their biogeography and evolutionary history. Note that laboratory sessions in this unit will make use of animal tissues and products. Activities abide by the relevant NHMRC guidelines and are approved by the ECU Animal Ethics Committee where appropriate.

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this unit students should be able to:

  1. Identify significant groups of Australian plants and animals by using the basic principles of biological taxonomy
  2. Describe major events influencing the evolution and distributions of key elements of the Australian biota, including isolation, adaptive radiation and secondary colonisation.
  3. Use appropriate tools including regional floras and faunas, field guides and digital resources to identify plants and animals.

Unit Content

  1. Australian native mammals: prototherian and metatherian mammals, native eutherians (rodents, bats and marine animals).
  2. Human impacts on the biota: consequences of Indigenous and European colonisation; introduction of alien species; interaction between native and introduced taxa.
  3. Introduction to biological taxonomy.
  4. Origins, diversity and distribution of major groups of non-mammalian vertebrates: fishes, amphibians, reptiles and birds.
  5. Plant morphology: features required for plant identification.
  6. Plants of selected significant biomes and geographical areas: heathlands, eucalypt woodlands and forests, salt-lake communities; the Pilbara and other arid regions, South-West Floristic Region, seagrasses and other significant aquatic plants.
  7. Recognition and identification of major elements of the Australian flora: Fabaceae, Mimosaceae and Caesalpiniaceae, Myrtaceae, Proteaceae, significant monocots, and other selected taxa.
  8. Recognition and identification of weeds and feral animals.
  9. Structure and use of taxonomic keys: hardcopy and digital floras and faunas, resources relevant to Australian biota.
  10. The history of the Australian continent: Rodinia, Pangaea, Gondwana and its break-up; post-Cretaceous era.

Learning Experience

Students will attend on campus classes as well as engage in learning activities through ECU's LMS

JoondalupMount LawleySouth West (Bunbury)
Semester 213 x 3 hour labNot Offered13 x 3 hour lab
Semester 213 x 2 hour lectureNot Offered13 x 2 hour lecture

For more information see the Semester Timetable

WIL - Field Experience

Students will undertake, and be assessed on, authentic activities through engagement with industry and community partners.

Students experience an environment where they observe and/or participate in the application of theoretical knowledge and skills in a professional setting, under the supervision of an expert or professional in the field. Examples include study tours, observation, shadowing, fieldwork, industry tours.

Additional Learning Experience Information

Students in this unit learn through recorded or live lectures and laboratory classes. Laboratories have a distinct focus on developing the skills of identifying Australian animals and plants. Students collect plant material to compile a herbarium and utilise relevant resources to identify plant species. This unit may include field trips. Lecture recordings are available.

Assessment

GS1 GRADING SCHEMA 1 Used for standard coursework units

Students please note: The marks and grades received by students on assessments may be subject to further moderation. All marks and grades are to be considered provisional until endorsed by the relevant School Progression Panel.

Due to the professional competency skill development associated with this Unit, student attendance/participation within listed in-class activities and/or online activities including discussion boards is compulsory. Students failing to meet participation standards as outlined in the unit information may be awarded an I Grade (Fail - incomplete). Students who are unable to meet this requirement for medical or other reasons must seek the approval of the unit coordinator.

ON CAMPUS
TypeDescriptionValue
AssignmentLiterature review20%
Laboratory WorkIndividual and group laboratory work20%
PortfolioHerbarium collection20%
ExaminationEnd of semester examination40%

Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005)

For the purposes of considering a request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005), inherent requirements for this subject are articulated in the Unit Description, Learning Outcomes and Assessment Requirements of this entry. The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the support for students with disabilities or medical conditions can be found at the Access and Inclusion website.

Academic Integrity

Integrity is a core value at Edith Cowan University, and it is expected that ECU students complete their assessment tasks honestly and with acknowledgement of other people's work. This means that assessment tasks must be completed individually (unless it is an authorised group assessment task) and any sources used must be referenced.

Breaches of academic integrity can include:

Plagiarism

Copying the words, ideas or creative works of other people, without referencing in accordance with stated University requirements. Students need to seek approval from the Unit Coordinator within the first week of study if they intend to use some of their previous work in an assessment task (self-plagiarism).

Unauthorised collaboration (collusion)

Working with other students and submitting the same or substantially similar work or portions of work when an individual submission was required. This includes students knowingly providing others with copies of their own work to use in the same or similar assessment task(s).

Contract cheating

Organising a friend, a family member, another student or an external person or organisation (e.g. through an online website) to complete or substantially edit or refine part or all of an assessment task(s) on their behalf.

Cheating in an exam

Using or having access to unauthorised materials in an exam or test.

Serious outcomes may be imposed if a student is found to have committed one of these breaches, up to and including expulsion from the University for repeated or serious acts.

ECU's policies and more information about academic integrity can be found on the student academic integrity website.

All commencing ECU students are required to complete the Academic Integrity Module.

Assessment Extension

In some circumstances, Students may apply to their Unit Coordinator to extend the due date of their Assessment Task(s) in accordance with ECU's Assessment, Examination and Moderation Procedures - for more information visit https://askus2.ecu.edu.au/s/article/000001386.

Special Consideration

Students may apply for Special Consideration in respect of a final unit grade, where their achievement was affected by Exceptional Circumstances as set out in the Assessment, Examination and Moderation Procedures - for more information visit https://askus2.ecu.edu.au/s/article/000003318.

SCI2118|2|2