If Springwatch has made you want to know more about the life in your neighbourhood and beyond, why not have a look at the courses on offer with the Open University?

Life in the Oceans: Exploring our Blue Planet (S180)
This course is linked to the BBC TV series Blue Planet. The course focuses on how marine organisms have to adapt to cope with living in the oceanic environment; why some parts of the ocean constantly teem with life, while others have seasonal bursts of activity; how marine ecosystems differ from terrestrial ecosystems and how the deep ocean environment has evolved.

Discovering Science (S103)
This course introduces a range of topics, from global warming to the origin of life, ecology and genetics to earthquakes and volcanoes, chemical reactions and the structure of atoms to the origin of the universe. Some questions that will be explored on the course include what happened when the universe began?; why are some countries plagued with earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, and how does the evolution of plants and animals occur?

Biology - Uniformity and Diversity (S204)
This course introduces a variety of topics across the whole field of modern biology, emphasising that it is a science firmly grounded in observation and experiment. It looks at the common features underlying the enormous diversity of life forms and applies these principles to plants, microbes and animals.

Practising Science (SXR103)
In this residential school course you will undertake interdisciplinary scientific investigations in laboratories and at a field location. There is some pre-school preparation to be done, working through the Practising Science Study Book, attempting self-assessment questions, and looking at workbooks used at the school.

Content last updated: 17/10/2005