Unit Synopsis
The invertebrates are the largest and most diverse group of animals on Earth, being found in all environments and habitats. This unit provides an overview of the biology, ecology, and taxonomy of the various invertebrate phyla, linking adaptation and evolutionary history to understand the origins and proliferation of this great diversity of life.
Details
| Level | Undergraduate |
|---|---|
| Unit Level | 2 |
| Credit Points | 6 |
| Student Contribution Band | SCA Band 2 |
| Fraction of Full-Time Student Load | 0.125 |
| Pre-requisites or Co-requisites |
Prerequisite BIOL11099 Living Systems or BIOL11102 Life Science Laboratory Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework). |
| Class Timetable | View Unit Timetable |
| Residential School | No Residential School |
Unit Availabilities from Term 2 - 2026
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Assessment Tasks
| Assessment Task | Weighting |
|---|---|
| 1. Written Assessment | 20% |
| 2. Practical Assessment | 30% |
| 3. Online Quiz(zes) | 50% |
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).
Past Exams
All University policies are available on the Policy web site, however you may wish to directly view the following policies below.
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of policies are available on the Policy web site.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Source: Email & in-person
One student became somewhat frustrated at the self-directed nature of choosing a research project topic, rather than being prescribed a topic.
The issue was resolved with additional one-on-one communication. For the next offering, the recommendation is to offer additional and earlier options for communication with all students who may have a similar issue.
Students were encouraged to engage with the research project early, with multiple avenues of communication offered from week 1 of term.
Source: SUTE feedback
Commentary praised the 'at home' research task instead of an on-campus residential school.
Maintain the 'at-home' structure of the practical work, with appropriate levels of communication and support.
The current structure of the practical work was maintained, with strong overall satisfaction in 2026.
Source: Email
Some students struggled somewhat with the choice of their research project.
Encourage students to engage early with their research project and offer adequate support throughout term. This will also include a requirement that students advise the unit coordinator of their chosen research project topic by the end of week 4.
In Progress
Source: Moodle Email
One B.Ed. student expressed that they found the content highly useful for their planned career in teaching.
Maintain current unit content to facilitate a broad applicability beyond a strict science focus.
In Progress
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Define terminology associated with the study of invertebrate zoology
- Describe the structural and functional organisation of animals from the various invertebrate phyla
- Explain the evolutionary history of the invertebrates, including their adaptations to particular environments and their ecology
- Identify the major invertebrate taxa and explain the evolutionary and physiological basis for the taxonomic classification of these animals
- Acquire practical skills in the study of invertebrates by conducting basic scientific research on invertebrate abundance, distribution, behaviour, and ecology in both field and laboratory settings.
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Written Assessment | • | • | • | ||
| 2 - Practical Assessment | • | • | • | • | |
| 3 - Online Quiz(zes) | • | • | • | • | |
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Communication | • | • | • | • | • |
| 2 - Problem Solving | • | • | • | ||
| 3 - Critical Thinking | • | • | • | • | • |
| 4 - Information Literacy | • | • | • | • | • |
| 5 - Team Work | • | ||||
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | • | • | • | • | |
| 8 - Ethical practice | • | ||||
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | |