First Year Seminar 191CNS2 - FYS- Topics in CNS

First-year (R1ST) Course Title: Extreme Aquatic Environments: Ecology, Adaptation, and Conservation
How do sharks survive in arctic regions? How do fish survive in the deep sea? This course will focus on extreme aquatic environments in oceans, streams, and lakes. You will learn foundational information about these ecosystems and how temperature, water flow and other factors create these extreme conditions. We will explore how organisms adapt to these environments, how humans further alter these ecosystems, and conservation strategies. Activities include a deep seafloor mapping simulation, Whodunit game on organism adaptations in the Congo River, and selective sort simulation to build a river barrier to prevent the spread of invasive lamprey in the Great Lakes (and potentially learn the anatomy of a live juvenile lamprey!). Like other First Year Seminars, the course will also include skills to help you succeed in your first semester at UMass Amherst.