AICE Marine Science AS

Course Description

For more information about this Cambridge course, visit the curriculum page of the Cambridge Assessment International Education website. 

In AICE marine science, you can expect to learn about:

1. How to graph / The scientific method
2. Density, layers, and mixing of ocean water
3. Basic chemistry and biology (macromolecules)
4. The development of the theory of plate tectonics
5. How sedimentation, weathering, and erosion create ecosystems
6. How plate boundaries create features on the ocean floor
7. Types of littoral zones made by weathering sedimentation and erosion
8. Tides
9. Ocean currents
10. El Nino
11. Symbiotic relationships in our oceans
12. Differences between photosynthesis chemosynthesis and respiration
13. How nutrients cycle within the oceans with an emphasis on the carbon cycle
14. Classification of marine life, including features about macroalgae, marine plants, chordates, echinoderms, crustaceans, bony fish, cartilaginous fish, as well as how to make an use a dichotomous key to identify these creatures
15. How biodiversity creates stable or unstable ecosystems
16. How to use the Lincoln Index, Simpson's diversity index, Spearman's rank index, and ACFOR scale to measure and quantitatively compare diversity of ecosystems
17. Learn about specific ecosystems such as the open ocean, sandy shore, mangrove forest, tropical coral reefs, and rocky shores.

Additional Information

Students must sit for the AICE Exam, which may occur after the end of the school year.