A Marine Sciences curriculum for all!
11 March 2022
The Marine Sciences Curriculum Course offered to learners from Grade 10 – 12 as a school leaving matric subject is also available to adults.
In 2020 six Western Cape schools included Marine Sciences in their school programme and the first group of Grade 12 learners wrote the subject as part of the National Senior Certificate exams last year.
The three-year online course is an inter-disciplinary subject aimed at those with an interest in the ocean, its workings, as well as its impact on the life of the planet and human populations.
Harriet Lakey, the Western Cape Education Department’s Provincial Programme Manager: Technology/Schools for the Blind/Hospital schools, always had an interest in Marine Sciences and was elated about the opportunity to learn more about this exciting field. She is one of several mature students who attends two two-hour online teaching sessions a week.
The content within Marine Sciences is woven together to form a multidisciplinary field. It builds connections between the realms of water, sediments, rocks and air, living organisms that inhabit the ocean and human engagements with all of these. It draws attention to ocean ecosystems and their sensitivity to human activity and resource use. Decision makers and the public need an increased awareness about the complex relationships that affect the ocean.
The course will equip students with a thorough understanding about ways to conserve and sustain the ocean for the future. Marine Sciences is informed by four strands: Marine Biology, Oceanography, Ocean Ecosystems and Humans and the Ocean.
If you are keen to pursue your passion for Marine Sciences, you can contact the Two Oceans Aquarium Foundation on education@aquariumfoundation.org.za for more information.