Students will learn:

Critical thinking skills:
how to compare and contrast 
the meaning of skepticism
tools for being a good skeptic
creating arguments based on analysis & critical thinking skills

Basic facts about octopuses, sharks, whales, and their families:
basic defense mechanisms in large sea animals
anatomy of large sea creatures
biological terms like anthropomorphism and chromatophors

Philosophy of Science topics:
how scientists define self-consciousness
how scientists define intelligence 
what tests on animals can prove or can't prove about animal consciousness

Cryptozoology:
the academic procedure academics use to study animals that haven't been proven to exist
processes by which exaggerated myths can perpetuate erroneous knowledge

One third of this class is devoted to facts about octopuses, sharks, and whales. One third to looking at sea lore and myth in terms of how it affects our knowledge and behavior towards these animals, and the final third of the class is about developing critical thinking skills in young minds when it comes to urban legends surrounding these creatures

As a rhetoric professor teaching critical thinking skills at the university level, I've found kids 10 through 13 are natural skeptics who enjoy soaking up fundamental concepts in critical thinking. Students will learn how to assess the agenda of media that presents them with proof that 'monsters' exist down in the trenches of the ocean. Once students master a few critical thinking concepts and new vocabulary words, I use urban legends and lore about sea creatures to spark excitement and then un-peel our thoughts surrounding sticky questions about how we know whether something is true or not. Finally, I will examine with the learners how and why urban legends, myths, and hoaxes spring into being.  In addition to this I use my undergraduate background in philosophy to examine the philosophy of science about animal intelligence -- in particular the intelligence of invertebrates. 

Finally, I've have a masters degree I use to develop a specialty in literature about sea lore. While doing research for a novel in progress, I've amassed a wealth of science based facts about cephalopods, cetacea, and elasmobranchii from reliable sources listed under sources.

提供的家庭作業
A one page handout will be provided for each class. This handout is meant to assist the students in taking notes, so they can compete in the team quiz each day in class. Is your learner new to taking notes? Not to worry! The quiz is short, basic, and only for fun! 
0 - 1 每週課外時間
提供的評估
Students compete in two teams to see who can remember the most from yesterday’s lesson. There is a team winner at the end of each day and an overall team winner at the end of the week. This fun competition rallies 85% of students to review the material from the week before and provides them with an entertaining refresher on what we learned before we move on. 
提供的成績

Octopus: The Most Mysterious Creature of the Sea 
Octopus: The Ocean’s Intelligent Invertebrate
Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness
The Soul of an Octopus
Octopus Lab:  Scientific experiments on Octopus Intelligence
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXCLj07MUuxHfu6zlEWRjHJTJ2eUUj1lN
Cephalopod Cognition
Kracken: The Curious, Exciting, and Slightly Disturbing Science of Squid
Advances in Marine Biology
Sharks
The Wonder of Sharks
Great White Sharks: The Biology of Carcharodon Charcharias
The Secret Life of Sharks: A Leading Marine Biologist Reveals the Mysteries of Shark Behavior
The Biology of Sharks and Rays
The Breath of A Whale: The Science and Spirit of Pacific Ocean Giants
Spying on Whales: The Past, Present and Future of Earth’s Most Awesome Creatures
Deep Thinkers: Inside the Minds of Whales, Dolphins, and Porpoises
Death At Sea World: Shamu and the Dark Side of Killer Whales in Captivity
A Pod of Killer Whales: The Mysterious and Beautiful Life of the Orca
Articles on cephalopods, cetacea, and elasmobranchii, from Scientific American, Science, Nature, New Scientist