LSC-20093 - Module Specification
School of Life Sciences
Faculty of Natural Sciences

Programme/Approved Electives for 2024/25

Available as a Free Standing Elective

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

None

Barred Combinations

None

Description for 2024/25

The fossil record shows that our planet has experienced five mass extinctions. Are we entering a sixth human-caused mass extinction event?
You will define the concept of biodiversity and see how it can be measured, look at the major threats to biodiversity globally and use case studies to explore particularly threatened organisms and habitats in more depth.
There are two in-course assessments that both help you to develop and evidence a range of key employability skills desirable in a post graduate market. In the first assessment you will use the IUCN Red List database to analyse `big dataż sets and explore the status of a specific taxonomic group of your choosing. The second assessment is framed around a series of journal clubs that will help to develop your communication, leadership and critical understanding of current issues.

To understand the different levels on which biodiversity operates and identify its past, present and future threats.

Intended Learning Outcomes

Define the term biodiversity and explain how it is measured: 2
Critically evaluate changes in biodiversity and extinction over time: 1,2
Identify and discuss the main drivers of the biodiversity crisis, and communicate to a target audience how a taxonomic group is threatened: 1,2

Study hours

Active learning
14 hours of live tutorials
36 hours of engagement with asynchronous content (assumes ~3hours of watching videos, reading core texts and writing notes, etc., for each of the 12 topics)
Independent study hours
18 hours of journal club preparation
12 hours of data analysis and write-up of IUCN exercise
18 hours of research, reflection and write-up of journal club exercise
52 hours of private study

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment