1.Warmer:
1.What
does the term ‘blue planet’ refer to and why?
2.What
do you think the blue planet effect is?
2.While
watching
3.What
is the Blue Planet series about?
4.Name
as many sea creatures as you can. (Write in Spanish if you do not
know the word in English)
5.How
do you think this type of series influences young people?
Read
the introduction to the text to find out the answer to question 5.
3.Gist
Reading
Read
the text and answer the following questions about these people:
|
a)
Who are they?
|
b)
What do they do at the moment?
|
Cathy
Lucas
|
|
|
David
Duffy
|
|
|
| Prof.
Mark Briffa |
|
,
|
The
Blue Planet effect: why marine biology courses are booming
Thanks
in part to the BBC wildlife series, there has been a sea change in
the popularity of marine biology courses and the study of the world’s
oceans
When
she was just 12 years old, an impressionable Cathy Lucas, now
associate professor in marine biology at the University of
Southampton, met Sir David
Attenborough. He’d come to talk to students about his 1979
landmark wildlife series Life on Earth. “I thrust him my copy of
his book to sign. He inspired me to go on and study zoology.”Lucas
now teaches students on Southampton’s marine biology degrees based
at the National Oceanography Centre. Like many universities around
the country, Southampton is noticing the “Blue Planet effect” on
the numbers of students interested in the field. “Big series such
as these are critical in raising awareness of the issues facing
marine wildlife,” says Lucas.
Even
between the first and second series, there have been dramatic changes
in the oceans, says David Duffy, a research fellow at Bangor
University. “Most of these changes can be traced back to human
activity, which is having a devastating impact.”Duffy is working
with scientists at the Sea
Turtle hospital in the Whitney laboratory for marine bioscience at
the University of Florida, investigating the huge rise in cases
of young turtles suffering cancerous tumours. “Numbers worldwide
are skyrocketing and this is almost certainly due to human activity,
but we don’t know exactly what activity,” he says.Drawing on
techniques he developed during five years spent researching human
cancers, Duffy has been analysing samples from the turtles operated
on: “I became convinced that the cutting-edge techniques I was
using could be applied more broadly, so I embarked upon a project
that brought me back to wildlife and the sea – having studied
marine snails as a postgrad.”
From
acidification of the oceans to the aggression of hermit crabs,
there’s no shortage of research avenues, says Prof Mark Briffa
who’s taught students on Plymouth University’s one-year master of
research (MRes) in marine biology. As professor of animal behaviour
in the School of Biological and Marine Sciences, he’s currently
researching how and why sea anemones fight.“We’re still seeing
students coming through who were inspired by the first Blue Planet
series,” he says.
Plymouth
accepts about 20 students on the year-long course, which kicks off
with some taught modules to build research skills. Students then
pursue individual research projects, working with university
researchers or those based at the nearby Marine
Biological Association. They may investigate local shores, go
offshore or travel to a research facility in Ischia, Italy.“The
degree gives you a chance to dip your toe into research and see if
it’s for you,” says Briffa. Students go
on to find work with marine agencies and environmental consultancies,
he says.Briffa hopes the students also leave inspired with a sense of
wonder and curiosity: “I can go to a local rocky shore and pick up
a single rock and find some major divisions of life – that can’t
fail to fascinate anyone.“It sparks questions of why animals live
where they do and how they survived. There’s a whole world down
there that people simply aren’t aware of.”
4.Vocabulary:
Reread
the text and find words or phrases for the following:
1.
easily affected
2.
noticeable
3.
give (strongly)
4.
a 3-4 year course you study at university
5.subject
6.make
conscious of
7.to
discover the origin of something
8.highly
destructive
9.to
increase rapidly
10.to
get ideas from
11.small
amount of something
12.very
modern/up to date
13.to
start (something difficult)
14.
someone studying a Master
15.plenty
of
16.presently
17.
begin/start (at a particular time)
18.to
follow (a course)
20.
A sense
of wonder is
an intellectual and emotional state frequently invoked in discussions
of science fiction.
21.
land along the edge of the sea or lake
22.conscious
of
from Mary Finbow
KEY
1.Warmer:
1.What
does the term ‘blue planet’ refer to and why? Planet Earth and
its’ oceans
2.What
do you think the blue planet effect is? Popularity of Marine Biology
Courses due to watching animal/wildlife programmes
2.While
watching
Watch
the video and answer the questions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_38JDGnr0vA
3.What
is the Blue Planet series about?
4.Name
as many sea creatures as you can. (Write in Spanish if you do not
know the word in English)
5.How
do you think this type of series influences young people? Encourages
them to consider studying Marine Biology
Read
the introduction to the text to find out the answer to question 5.
Popularity of Marine Biology Courses due to watching animal/wildlife
programmes
3.Gist
Reading
Read
the text and answer the following questions about these people:
|
a)
Who are they?
|
b)
What do they do at the moment?
|
Cathy
Lucas
|
associate
professor in marine biology at the University of Southampton |
Lucas
now teaches students on Southampton’s marine biology degrees
based at the National Oceanography Centre. |
David
Duffy
|
a
research fellow at Bangor University |
Duffy
is working with scientists at the Sea
Turtle hospital in the Whitney laboratory for marine bioscience at
the University of Florida,
investigating the huge rise in cases of young turtles suffering
cancerous tumours |
Prof.
Mark Briffa
|
Prof
Mark Briffa who’s taught students on Plymouth University’s
one-year master of research (MRes) in marine biology. Now
professor of animal behaviour in the School of Biological and
Marine Sciences |
He’s
currently researching how and why sea anemones fight.
|
The
Blue Planet effect: why marine biology courses are booming
Thanks
in part to the BBC wildlife series, there has been a sea change in
the popularity of marine biology courses and the study of the world’s
oceans
When
she was just 12 years old, an impressionable
Cathy Lucas, now associate professor in marine biology at the
University of Southampton, met Sir David
Attenborough.
He’d come to talk to students about his 1979 landmark
wildlife series Life on Earth. “I thrust
him my copy of his book to sign. He inspired me to go on and study
zoology.”
Lucas
now teaches students on Southampton’s marine biology degrees
based at the National Oceanography Centre. Like many universities
around the country, Southampton is noticing the “Blue Planet
effect” on the numbers of students interested in the field.
“Big series such as these are critical in raising
awareness
of the issues facing marine wildlife,” says Lucas.
Even
between the first and second series, there have been dramatic changes
in the oceans, says David Duffy, a research fellow at Bangor
University. “Most of these changes can be traced
back to
human activity, which is having a devastating
impact.”
Drawing
on techniques he developed during five years spent researching human
cancers, Duffy has been analysing samples
from the turtles operated on: “I became convinced that the
cutting-edge
techniques I was using could be applied more broadly, so I embarked
upon a project that brought me back to wildlife and the sea –
having studied marine snails as a postgrad.”
From
acidification of the oceans to the aggression of hermit crabs,
there’s no
shortage of
research avenues, says Prof Mark Briffa who’s taught students on
Plymouth University’s one-year master of research (MRes) in marine
biology. As professor of animal behaviour in the School of Biological
and Marine Sciences, he’s currently
researching how and why sea anemones fight.
“We’re
still seeing students coming through who were inspired by the first
Blue Planet series,” he says.
Plymouth
accepts about 20 students on the year-long course, which kicks
off
with some taught modules to build research skills. Students then
pursue
individual research projects, working with university researchers or
those based at the nearby Marine
Biological Association.
They may investigate local shores, go offshore or travel to a
research facility in Ischia, Italy.
“The
degree gives you a chance to
dip your toe into
research and see if it’s for you,” says Briffa. Students go
on to find work with marine agencies and environmental consultancies,
he says.
Briffa
hopes the students also leave inspired with a
sense of wonder
and curiosity: “I can go to a local rocky shore
and pick up a single rock and find some major divisions of life –
that can’t fail to fascinate anyone.
“It
sparks
questions of why animals live where they do and how they survived.
There’s a whole world down there that people simply aren’t aware
of.”
4.Vocabuary
Reread
the text and find words or phrases for the following: (See
highlighted words in text.)
1.
easily affected
2.
noticeable
3.
give (strongly)
4.
a 3-4 year course you study at university
5.subject
6.make
conscious of
7.to
discover the origin of something
8.highly
destructive
9.to
increase rapidly
10.to
get ideas from
11.small
amount of something
12.very
modern/up to date
13.to
start (something difficult)
14.
someone studying a Master
15.plenty
of
16.presently
17.
begin/start (at a particular time)
18.to
follow (a course)
20.
A sense
of wonder is
an intellectual and emotional state frequently invoked in discussions
of science fiction.
21.
land along the edge of the sea or lake
22.conscious
of
