You may never have heard of the phylum Echinodermata, but you've probably seen its members! In this installment of Taxonomy Tales, we will dive deep into this phylum and the major groups it includes. From sea stars to urchins to sea cucumbers and more, these unique animals have more in common than it may seem. 

We will cover the major groups of echinoderms:
1) Crinoidea (feather stars) 
2) Echinozoa (sea urchins and sea cucumbers)
3) Asterozoa (starfish and brittle stars)

We will also discuss many individual species along the way, including sunflower stars, giant sea cucumbers, crinoids, sand dollars, and chocolate chip starfish (subject to change as this course is frequently edited). For each group, we will compare and contrast the characteristics and lives of the animals it includes. Along the way, students will learn new vocabulary and ecological concepts that they can apply to other topics in zoology. 

There are thousands of echinoderms and while we don't have time to learn them all, this class will give your learner a solid foundation to explore the phylum Echinodermata to their curious heart's content!

This class is lecture-style with slides and photos, but highly interactive. Students are given the opportunity to ask and answer questions, ponder scientific ideas, and discuss with their classmates. Students may participate via video, audio, the chat room, or may just sit back and enjoy! 

*Please note that echinoderms are covered briefly in one week of my Zoology Flex course. This class goes into significantly more detail but a small amount of information will be repeated.

Taxonomy can be a complex study and categorization of living things is constantly changing. I follow the most widely accepted taxonomic categorizations and sometimes simplify for the level of these learners. Despite the big words used, there is no pre-requisite knowledge to be successful in this class.