This course includes a wide variety of sea creatures, and a few freshwater fish, too! We'll explore their characteristics and compare them to their Pokemon counterparts. We'll also learn the basics of modern taxonomy, and where these sea creatures fit in the current taxonomic system. We'll also learn a bit about how the complexities of classifying such a wide variety of underwater organisms. In addition, students will also have the opportunity to design their own Pokemon, based on an aquatic phyla that doesn't have a Pokemon yet.

Part 1:An introduction to marine life, the taxonomy and classification of underwater organisms, phylum Chordata (fish)

Part 2: Chordata continued (sea horses, rays, sharks, eels), phylum Mollusca (octopi, slugs, snails)

Part 3: phylum Cnidaria (coral, jellyfish), phylum Annelida (tube worms), echinodermata (star fish, sea urchin), phylum Arthropoda (crabs, lobsters)

Please note, marine mammals (such as whales) and marine reptiles (such as sea turtles) are not included in this course, but are instead discussed in the Pokemon mammal and reptile classes. (These are also available as separate classes on Udemy, if you are interested.)

By the end of the course, students should be able to explain how scientists classify marine organisms, list the phyla that comprise underwater life, describe the defining characteristics of these phyla, and compare/contrast the characteristics of a myriad of aquatic Pokemon with their real life counterparts.