Making choices for school.

[chrono_war01]

Hello There, I am the annoying guy on the Net. I'm taking my GCSE (some sort of public test when ur going secondary school) subject options. I want to become a marine biologists but don't know what subjects I need. So, can anyone help me?
Hope you moderaters won't get angry for going off topic but I don't know which is related to my topic.

 

[Tigerkatze_82]

Hello

(hope I don't misunderstand your question :?)
Marine biology is a wide area (I'm a marbio student myself) and the knowledge you need to bring with you depends on your later area of interest. If you want to do marine zoology or botany, the subjects I'd recommend are biology and chemistry.
In contrast, if you prefer to do oceanography stuff later, math, physics and geography may be a good choice ...

Not sure if that helps :|

Cheers,
TK

 

[cthulhu77]

Welcome to Tonmo, and glad you found us!
Don't worry about going off topic...we do it quite a lot.
greg

 

[marinebio_guy]

Being a marine biology student also I agree with what TK said, It all depends on what you want to go into.

 

[Jean]

I would also add in some statistics papers! I didn't and boy do I regret it!

Cheers

J

 

[chrono_war01]

Ahh..Arghhh

Um...I think that I will go into something that involves jellyfush are octopus/squid. perhaps be the next Steve O'Shea. Haha
So, cya! I love good comments! Thanks for all your help!

 

[oscar]

i thought very long and seriously about a career in it but decided to keep it as just a very involved hobby!!

in australia you need chem or physics biology is recomended (which means you will learn it in 4 weeks if you didnt over 2 years) maths b i usually required (not core but advanced that is for you us guys) and then whatever you want - marine biologist is very broad and a career path isnt necessarily referring to picking an animal but more picking a field -

oceanography
botany
environmental protection
propogation
water chemistry etc

look into it a bit futher - some people like steve oshea get lucky and get squids etc but i assure you they all work VERY hard and are very personally and financially involved to get where they are with lots of personal rewards but little financial help!!


good luck - not being a marine bio myself id be interested in some other peoples coments too!!!

 

[atticus_finch]

mostly reiterating others' suggestions

(mostly reiterating others): marine biology; microbiology; zoology; oceanography; orgo (organic chem); ecology; maths; stats. do an internship if you can. avoid courses with names like 'Land Shark 101'. they will be from the drama dept and led by a professor named Akroyd..=)

gl.. a.f.

 

[chrono_war01]

perhaps someone should tell me which subject would involve sea creatures.
Thanks!

P.S: I got my self a box jelly-fish. It arrived in a tub from Fed-ex. What should I do?

 

[atticus_finch]

P.S: I got my self a box jelly-fish. It arrived in a tub from Fed-ex. What should I do?

a few links for you. a google search will get you many more. hth.. a.f.

http://www.dnr.state.sc.us/marine/pub/seascience/jellyfi.html
http://www.barrierreefaustralia.com/the-great-barrier-reef/jellyfish.htm
http://www.barrierreefaustralia.com/text-only/box-jelly-fish-text-only.htm
http://www.antphoto.com.au/antphoto/search?q=aki34220

 

[fluffysquid]

Urm... a box jellyfish??

That doesn't really fall under the catagory of Cephalopods.... jellies are Cnidarians... worlds of difference between the two, actually. Here's a website: http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/cnidaria/cnidaria.html

Buuut... from what little i've heard, jellyfish are rather difficult to keep. I've seen them kept at Moody Gardens in Galveston. Perhaps you should find a contact there and email them for advice. Here's the website: http://www.moodygardens.com/aquarium-pyramid.html

Also, please share with us the details of your tank in which you will be keeping it (size, filtration, and such).

In the future, it's generally recommended to research an animal before you get it... so it will have the best chance possible of surviving.

come to think of it... how did you manage to aquire a box jellyfish, anyway??

 

[fluffysquid]

Dont' get me wrong though... That is downright cool and i rather wish i could observe a box jellyfish, too.

 

[oscar]

i have to agree - you really should research very thoroughly before diving in as you say

but i also agree that that is extremely cool!!!

best ring around and organise its tank quickly!! good luck with that!!

as for subjects at school biology in aus allows a major piece (a speech) on any subject you like!!! chemistry will help with all the water stuff and all the technical stuff i am hopeless at but maybe you could pick that up later -

i wouldnt reccomend picking subjects on what you want to do now - pick ones that you will enjoy reguardless of what you do but do keep in mind university/college pre requisites if thewy have them

 

[Jean]

this is all great advice! my bachelors is in psychology and zoology! i then did a year of law (and hated it!) before a friend who was studying marine science suggested it! (should've thought of it myself), interestingly she's now a lawyer and i'm a marine biologist!!!!!! I've also done chem (organic & inorganic) anthropology, behavioural pharmacology, behaviourtal zoology etc etc... I guess what I'm saying is you don't need to decide immediately. choose some papers just cos they interest you!!!!!

j

 

[chrono_war01]

First of all, I need to tell you that I did NOT order any jellyfish. And second, it seems like it was supposed to be for the local aquarium cause it just phoned me if I recived a jellyfish. Seems like my mail address got faxed to Fed-ex instead of the aqauriums....
Oh well, thanks, also they paid me 20 bucks for all my fish and my picture of a Humbolt or something, I still have that scar when the Huge Humboth bit me. Bit 0ver 1.2 m if you ask me. my last scuba trip was nice though we dived about 5 m water not very clear, saw a sting ray, a tiny octpus and a 5kg cuttle ( too bad i couldn't get pics as my dumb mate shot right through with a spear gun. Even The guys on the surface could seethe ink. That cuttle was really big, same size as a 1 year baby . European something according to the fish hawker down the road. He used study marine science but ended up selling fish. Oh yes, we still have some we were defrosting, care to have some cuttlefish steak? Mind you, we had that for 3 meals already.