Are all ocean habitats the same? What is a coral reef? What do sea turtles and dolphins eat? This "Marine Biology - Ocean Ecosystems in Minecraft and the Real World" course will teach students about deep-sea biology, food chains, coastal ecology, aquatic adaptations and more!

This course will follow a “flexible schedule” and does not have scheduled online meetings. This flexible schedule allows students to work at any time, 24/7 for the duration of the course. Thus, keeping all students working at a similar pace but not requiring them to attend online class meetings in Zoom at a set time. This "flex" course works great for families with varied schedules and allows students from any time zone to participate! 

On average, students will complete about 2-3 hours of work per week in the online classroom plus another 1-2 hours of building time in Minecraft. Students can spend more time on their Minecraft construction projects they create during the course if they wish. Optional labs and activities based on the science concepts of the week are also provided. If learners do not have enough time within the 5-weeks of the course to complete the optional activities, they can be saved and completed by learners on their own even after the course concludes.   

During each week of the course, students have the choice of working on content at a grade 2/3 (ages 8-10) or grade 5 level (ages 10-12). In this way, the course is appropriate for students in grade levels 2-6 depending on their ability. Students will have a marine biology-themed article to read with comprehension questions to answer and will also have a weekly science quiz on the topics of the week. 

Each Monday morning (Pacific time zone) the tasks for the week will be posted to the Outschool classroom and available to enrolled learners. The weekly tasks include reading articles, taking quizzes, watching video lessons, participating in online classroom discussions, creating your Minecraft builds, and posting screenshots/pictures of your Minecraft builds so your classmates and teacher can see them. The teacher will provide feedback on your weekly tasks and can always be reached via the Outschool message/email system with any questions. To stay on track, students should follow the provided pacing guide each week of which tasks should be completed each day (Mon-Fri). There are generally about 30-45 minutes of work per day plus Minecraft building time. However, the hours of work time can be spread out over many days or condensed to fewer days depending on the students’ personal schedule. Students should be sure to complete the weekly tasks before the next week of tasks are unlocked to stay on track.

Class participants will do all Minecraft building on their own personal device. Minecraft is required for all students but the version/device does not matter. Students will use creative mode in Minecraft to build their weekly tasks. If they want to explore and collect resources (mining) in Minecraft they are welcome to do so but "mining” is not required. Many versions of Minecraft are available such as Pocket Edition for iPad or Android tablets, Xbox, Nintendo or Play Station gaming consoles, Java edition for PC/Mac computer, and Windows10 version for PC’s. Downloading or purchase of a Minecraft account for each student must be made separately and prior to the start of class. Instructions on how to build with Minecraft are not part of this course. Students with a few weeks of Minecraft experience through play or otherwise will have the skills needed to complete the builds in Minecraft. *This course does require that students have the "Aquatic Update" of Minecraft that was released in 2018. Minecraft is a building tool for this course (think of it as digital building blocks). The lessons and information in this course are not official Minecraft products and are not associated with Mojang.

What is NOT included:
This course will not include a group server or realm. Students can work together if their devices are compatible but partner/group projects are not required. Most learners will build in Minecraft on their own. This course will not include instructions on how to build in Minecraft. This is intentional so that learners can strengthen their creativity and exercise their minds to make their own creations.

The "Week 1: Ocean Biomes" unit will teach students about the many different ocean environments from the frigid Arctic to tropical coral reefs. This week’s quiz will focus on the various ocean biomes and the plants and animals that live in them. 

During "Week 2: Adaptations and Endangered Species" students will learn about the adaptations aquatic life has made in order to survive in the numerous habitats of the world's oceans. Some of these adaptations have made certain species prone to over-harvesting and endangerment. This week’s quiz will focus on the topics of natural selection and also how nature and humans have impacted the populations of aquatic species. 

In "Week 3: Let's eat!" students will learn about the various roles of organisms in an ecosystem to include producers, consumers, and decomposers. They will also learn about the difference between a food chain and a food web. This week’s quiz will focus on how energy is passed from one organism to another through the energy pyramid and where organisms exist in this "circle of life".

For the "Week 4: Coastal Ecology" unit, students will learn how much of the world's population lives near the ocean coasts and how the interaction of people and the marine environment can cause problems such as pollution and building in places that are environmentally sensitive. This week’s quiz will focus on the diverse aquatic life of the ocean coastal zone including estuaries, tide pools, mangroves and sandy beaches and also on the ways people can protect these beautiful and sensitive habitats. 

Week 5 is for "catch up and wrap up". No new tasks are assigned this week. Students will use the week to submit any late or missing work, view the builds created by other students, add any missing features to their builds, update their discussion posts, or complete the offline labs and activities that have been provided in weeks 1-4.  

All student participants must have a working version of Minecraft to participate. Any costs for Minecraft accounts are not included with the course fee.  

As a "Flex" course offering, this class does not include live class meetings in Zoom but teacher-to-learner and learner-to-learner interaction are expected from course participants in the online classroom. These interactions will take place using the Outschool message delivery system so learners and the teacher can interact on a one-on-one basis for questions and feedback. Group discussions will be visible to all learners in the course and students are expected to post, share, and comment on the Minecraft creations of their classmates.  

This course will follow Outschool’s “Flexible” refund policy. For more information on the Outschool refund policy, you can view the website here:   
https://support.outschool.com/about-outschool/refund-policies-and-happiness-guarantee