NorthStar’s Marine Biology & Oceanography Classes Wave Hello

By Aaron E.

Dolphin Jumping by Mary Tron from Getty Images

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Ahh, there is nothing like the ocean. At the very least, this is the response that you would get if you were to ask Mrs. Beirne what her thoughts were about the ocean.

Mrs. Katy Beirne is a science teacher at NorthStar Academy who teaches Anatomy and Physiology, Marine Biology, and Oceanography. She loves both the ocean and the creatures that live in it. She has earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from the University of California at Santa Cruz and a Master's degree in Secondary Education from Claremont Graduate University. She has 17 years of experience teaching classes such as biology, anatomy, and chemistry.

Mrs. Beirne knew that she wanted to be a teacher because, while she was earning her Bachelor’s degree, she realized that she loved teaching summer classes for kids at the marine science center at which she worked. Her favorite part of this was always when she was able to lead her students on field trips. Mrs. Beirne gained even more experience leading students in the field when she arranged and led student expeditions to the Galapagos Islands and through the Amazon Rainforest. She says, "I love being able to do science and not just learn about science. So, to me, that's one of the best aspects of teaching is when I'm able to actually guide students into experiencing science. And that's kind of tough to do in an online type environment." However, Mrs. Beirne is trying to arrange a summer expedition for NorthStar students in the future.

Mrs. Beirne began teaching the Marine Biology course two years ago when she finished writing it. She finished writing the Oceanography course earlier this year, which allowed it to be released. The idea from the start was to have both Marine Biology and Oceanography available as semester-long courses or to be taken back-to-back as a year-long course.

If one were to look at the Marine Biology and Oceanography course listings on the NorthStar website, it would be clear that there are two versions of each of the classes: honors and regular. According to Mrs. Beirne, however, the differences are slight. Both versions contain the same information and assignments, save the extra assignments that are included in the honors versions in order to meet the lab requirement. These extra assignments include online lab simulations called Gizmos and assignments that allow students to explore topics from the class in a more in-depth manner.

The Marine Biology course incorporates many things to make the course very engaging. It includes information on the animals that inhabit the ocean and other aspects of marine life science. One aspect that Mrs. Beirne reports being a favorite among students is that students will watch the Blue Planet II television series as part of the class. Virtual field trips are also incorporated into the course. Most often, virtual field trips will come in the form of a 360-degree image of a place related to the current topics being studied. This can be explored by students by scanning an embedded QR code or by using the viewer embedded in the lesson in Buzz. There are also occasionally virtual dissections.

The Oceanography course includes information on topics such as The Ring of Fire and ocean waves. It also includes information on renewable energy, including “how we could actually harness energy from waves.” Furthermore, information on environmental issues plaguing the ocean is included.

There are two types of students that Mrs. Beirne would recommend these classes to. First, students could take either of the classes as an elective simply because they are interested. In addition, Mrs. Beirne would strongly recommend these courses to students looking to enter any field of science for a career because "…if you're interested in any science career or field of science, you should try and take as many science courses as you can."

There are a few things that Mrs. Beirne would want prospective students to know about the courses that cannot be found in the course descriptions: “I think one of the things that students don't realize until they take it is just how visually stunning the course is: just the colors and the pictures and just the way the course looks; I think makes it so much fun to want to dive into and want to be in the course. It's just the pictures. I use a lot of pictures and a lot of videos and just a lot of things to bring the students' eyes into it.” The second is that, for both courses, students do most of their work in the provided student notebook. By the end of the course, students have created a memorable marine biology or oceanography notebook. Finally, Mrs. Beirne would like to convey that she believes students can expect either of these courses to have a manageable workload and to be very well organized.

As the sun sinks past the blue horizon, NorthStar students can dream about what awaits them in NorthStar's Marine Biology and Oceanography courses.

Aaron E. is a high school student from the northeastern coast of the USA who is in his second year at NorthStar Academy. He is excited to be joining the Navigator staff for the first time this year. Some of his hobbies are freshwater fishing, reading, and digital 3D modeling. He enjoys spending time in nature with family and friends and exploring it from the water. He loves most anything related to science, technology, nature, and engineering.

👤NSA People, 📓Class SpotlightsEIC NSA2022-2023, October 2022 Publication