Taking It Further: Courses
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Want to learn more about the environment and its management? Why not enrol in one of the courses offered by the Open University:
Environment (U216)
Environmental concerns are broad-ranging: they include global climate change, anxieties about food, polluted air, the disposal of waste, the squandering of natural resources, disappearance of species and habitats, concerns over the consequences of our actions for future generations and disquiet over the genetic modification of living organisms. This exciting and innovative course provides an introduction to the scientific, technological and social factors that are important in informing your approaches to these concerns. It opens with multimedia resources that look at the Blackwater estuary in Essex. Drawing on a wide range of issues, it encourages you to understand and debate environmental changes and futures, and to consider why it is that environmental questions are often the source of political and scientific conflict.
The Environmental Web (U316)
This interdisciplinary course examines contemporary issues such as biodiversity and climate change, in order to develop your environmental literacy and enable you to take part in informed debate and action. It explores environmental materials on the Web used to publish data, implement policy, debate issues and promulgate views. The course teaches you how to navigate these materials and how to analyse and evaluate information. Some knowledge of the environment is assumed, such as from our course U206/U216 Environment. Much of the teaching and assessment for this course is online. You will need a personal computer with Internet access, plus some experience of using the Internet.
Environmental Science (S216)
Emphasizing the holistic nature of environmental science by studying the processes, links, interactions and feedback mechanisms that operate within and between different environments, this multi-disciplinary course teaches aspects of Earth Sciences, biology, chemistry and physics that apply to the environment. Through interactive, multimedia ‘field trips' you will be able to explore an area, observe habitats, gather data and analyse your observations. By the end of the course you will be able to go into a new virtual environment and analyse landforms, soils, and water flows, identify habitats of flora and fauna, and comment on human influences and their likely consequences.
