To be able to understand the importance of the environment for our health, we need to know a little about the interdependence between environment and humankind. This unit will look at interactions between plants, animals and the physical and chemical environment, as well as considering ways in which humans have altered, and are altering this environment. These changes have health implications that are not always immediately obvious. Frequently, we initiate changes that are going to have their effects some time in the future, and we will be looking at the legacies that we leave to future generations. We move on to consider our own demise, and ask what exactly it is that we think we will be leaving for those who follow.

Hearing is a familiar and important human sense that is a topic naturally of interest to those who are curious about human biology. This unit will enable you to relate what you read to your own sensory experiences - and indeed many of the questions asked have exactly that function. This unit will be best understood by those with some biological understanding.

Accounts of Caravaggio's life are filled with suggestions of murder and intrigue. But does knowing more about this dark artist's experiences help us to interpret his art? Or does understanding his motivations cloud their true meaning? This unit explores the biographical monograph, one of the most common forms of art history writing.

The heritage traditions of Scotland are unique in comparison to the rest of Britain. This unit uses two case studies to demonstrate how heritage sites have helped to forge the Scottish national identity and history.

Ever wondered what it would be like to study philosophy? This unit will introduce you to the teaching methods employed and the types of activities and assignments you would be asked to undertake should you wish to study OU course A211 Philosophy and the human situation.

How do we learn about the world of the ancient Romans and Greeks? This unit will provide you with an insight into the Classical world by introducing you to the various sources of information used by scholars to draw together an image of this fascinating period of history.

This unit focuses on higher level skills. Skills development is complementary to other learning - it cannot be done in isolation. The higher level skills in this material aim to raise your awareness of the processes of learning and development - other subject-based material must supply the context and motivation for this. Key skills underpin the ability to carry out successfully, and improve on, a wide range of tasks in higher education, employment and wherever there is a continuation of learning. We hope that you will study this unit over a period of time in conjunction with a course or work situation. For example, you may complete 1 hour per week for selected skills over a 40-week period.

Fossils are a glimpse into the distant past and fascinate young and old alike. This unit will introduce you to the explosion of evolution that took place during the Palaeozoic era. You will look at the many different types of creatures that existed at that time and how they managed to evolve to exist on land.

A decade ago, the possibility of a link between the MMR vaccine and autism hit the media. Fear of the vaccine spread rapidly and, despite an almost unanimous consensus that the claim was unfounded, still persists today. In this unit, we'll examine why this controversy took on such a life of its own and why parents still agonise about the vaccine.

This is an introductory-level course designed for global post-secondary educators interested in learning more about open education, open educational resources (OER), and open educational practices (OEP). The purpose of the course is to increase awareness and use of OER as part of global teaching and learning, and to connect education communities with each other. Participation within the course discussion forums requires enrolment through the OpenLearn system and may enrich your learning experience through interactions. There will also be social media and blogging opportunities to connect through Twitter and other spaces that you choose.

Coastal environments are by their nature ever-changing. This unit looks at the example of the Blackwater Estuary in Essex, England, describing how the current state of the estuary came to be. It examines the contests and conflicts that center on the estuary in terms of managing the environment for human needs and the needs of the other species who make their habitat there.

In this unit you will see first how to convert vectors from geometric form, in terms of a magnitude and direction, to component form, and then how conversion in the opposite sense is accomplished. The ability to convert between these different forms of a vector is useful in certain problems involving displacement and velocity, as shown in Section‘_2, in which you will also work with bearings.

This unit is the first in the MSXR209 series of five units that introduce the idea of modelling with mathematics. This unit centres on a mathematical model of how pollution levels in the Great Lakes of North America vary over a period of time. It demonstrates that, by keeping the model as simple as possible extremely complex systems can be understood and predicted.

Short Description:
What makes a ‘nation’ and what makes peoples strive for nationhood? This unit will provide you with an introduction to studying political ideas by looking at how people who see themselves as nations challenge the existing order to assert their right to a state of their own.

Long Description:
What makes a ‘nation’ and what makes peoples strive for nationhood? This unit will provide you with an introduction to studying political ideas by looking at how people who see themselves as nations challenge the existing order to assert their right to a state of their own.

After studying this unit you should be able to: grasp the concepts of nation, nationalism and self-determination; have a better understanding of the role they play in current political disputes; think about the problem of how to take democratic decisions about secession; relate political theory to political practice more rigorously; take a more informed and active part in debates about national and international politics.

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This unit helps you understand the properties of nucleotides and how they contribute to secondary and tertiary structures of nucleic acids at the molecular level. You will learn about the different composition and roles of nucleic acids in the cell, their interactions with each other and the use of ribozymes, aptamers, antisense and hybridization as tools in molecular research. The unit covers the function of DNA packaging within the cell, the interactions between the DNA double helix and the nucleosome and it helps you understand the various chromatin states within the interphase nucleus.

This unit examines the area of the brain based learning with a particular focus on the development of the young child's brain and is of particular relevance to those who work with young children. We begin by looking at the structure and functions of the brain, and the impact that sensory deprivation can have on these. We consider the implications of current understandings of brain development for teaching and learning, particularly in an early years setting, and finish by exploring the value of play (particularly outdoor play) in children's learning and the development of their brains.

From politics to cookery, ratios, proportions and percentages are part of everyday life. This unit is designed to help you become more familiar with how figures can be manipulated, then you can check whether that discount really is as big as they claim!

How do"welfare to work' programs such as the New Deal take into account and shape people's personal lives? This unit looks at how participation in, and drop-out from,"workfare' programs are interpreted within different theoretical perspectives, and uses two case studies to connect the theory with the reality of people's lives.

The Roman emperor had key relationships with several differing groups within the Roman empire, including the senate, the populace of Rome, the army and the provinces. This unit will focus on exploring the emperor's relationship with the provinces and will show you how this relationship was represented and mediated, manifesting the culture of the empire in the figure of the emperor.

Since the invention of the phonograph in 1877, the recording and playback of sound has been a key element of life in the western world. This unit traces the technology and characters of the sound recording industry as it advances from Edison's original phonograph to the formats we know today.