This course teaches students the fundamentals of the scientific method, and gives them the opportunity to conduct a small research project in marine sciences under the supervision and guidance from practicing scientists. Topics covered include: hypotheses and predictions; experimental and comparative approaches; variation, replication, pseudo-replication and sampling; calibration, accuracy and precision; experimental designs and their relation to statistics; scientific writing. Students will first work through a small question with instructors to put into practice concepts discussed in class, and they will then work on their own project throughout the better part of the semester to further hone their research skills. Students will choose the topic of their project and establish its design in consultation with instructors and via group discussions with classmates. Projects will be designed to take advantage of local marine organisms and habitats. Students will collect, analyze, interpret and write-up their results following the format of a scientific paper, and they will present them to the class at the end of the semester. NOTE: This course is offered exclusively in the Marine Semester.