Course Description

In this course, you should develop a strong basis for a comprehensive understanding of the nature of the plant lifestyle and the unique biology that supports it, how scientists have come to understand this biology, and the ways in which scientists are pursuing knowledge and furthering our understanding of plant biology today. Our study of plant biology will begin with the structure and function of plants, with an emphasis on flowering plants. We will then turn our discussions to the topics of diversity and evolution of plants (and algae). We will explore aspects of applied plant biology (agricultural biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, phytoremediation, etc). We will end the semester with a series of special topic presentations by you, the participants in the class. The wide range of topics we will cover during the semester will challenge you to build and maintain an integrated understanding of plants, from an awareness of their biochemistry to their roles in an ecosystem to their evolution and classification.

Each of you begins this course with some knowledge of plants; the task of connecting new concepts and information to your initial foundation will involve different processes for each of you. In addition, each of you begins this course with some level of expertise (or bias towards) a particular field within biology – be it physiology, ecology, or molecular biology - and I hope that our diverse backgrounds and biases will enrich our class discussions. For this reason, your preparation for class meetings should include not only careful reading of the assigned chapters but also placing this new information in the context of your own expertise and your growing knowledge from the material covered in this class.

Prerequisite: BIOL 113 (13) or 114 (14) or permission of instructor. Enrollment limited.

Reading

Required textbook: Botany, 3^rd edition; Mauseth, 2003.

Additional journal articles will be procured by you or will be assigned throughout the semester and will be available in the library, on the web, and/or via electronic reserve.

Course requirements and grading scheme

Evaluation of your performance in this class will include both measurement of understanding of the material and processes that form the content of the course and the clarity, reasoning, and creativity of thought and presentation in written or oral form.

A. There will be one in-class midterm exam and a one-hour final examination (to be held Friday, December 14 at 8:30 AM). In preparing for these exams, remember that an integrated comprehension of the nature of plants involves a continuous synthesis of information on a number of levels; material from the beginning of the course will form a foundation on which later knowledge will depend.

B. There will be 6 bi-weekly quizzes, predominantly short answer format.

C. Students will work together in groups of two or three on a special topic projects to be assigned as we proceed through the semester. These assignments will involve library research, the writing of a synthesis review, and a 20 - 25 minute oral presentation to the class.

D. Class attendance and participation are a critical part of your responsibility in this course, and will be included in determining your grade in the course (see below). To participate intelligently in class, it is essential that you read and thoughtfuly consider the assigned material before each class. You may be asked to complete occasional homework assignments and to write very brief (one paragraph) response or question papers related to the assigned journal articles.

Midterm exam 15%

Final exam 20%

Quizzes 20%

Special topic project

(class presentation and synthesis article) 30%

Response papers, etc 5%

Attendance, class participation, attitude,

and response papers 10%

Advice on how to do well in this course

Complete the assigned reading BEFORE coming to class. A second reading of the material after class is encouraged.

Actively answer the review questions at the end of each chapter in the textbook (don’t just read the questions).

Use the Plant Biology Tutor CD-ROM.

Attend every class. Ask questions. Participate in class discussion.

Turn in all assignments on time.

Ask for help when you need it.

Academic honesty

I strongly encourage you to exchange information, discuss class material, and bounce ideas off of one another (and me). However, all work submitted for evaluation must be your own, unless part of a group project. In the case of group projects, you will be required to explicitly report on the contributions of each group member. Please review the College policy on academic honesty. If you have questions or are unsure, please ask!

Disabilities

The college will make reasonable accommodations for persons with documented disabilities. Students should notify the Coordinator for Students with Disabilities, Erin Salva, located in the Office of Academic Advising and their instructors of any special needs. Instructors should be notified sometime during the first two weeks of class.

Course Outline

** This schedule may be updated during the semester. **

Date	Topic	Reading	Assignments/Exams
1-15	Intro	Ch 1	National issues in plant biology?
	Plant cellular structures, aspects of cell division, and plant specific molecules	Ch 3-4, for review: 2, 15 (pp. 433-456), 16
	Plant tissues/plant body	Ch 5 (pp.114 –124)	Discussion of national issues
1-22	Primary growth/development		Heavy metals and plant growth I
	Stems	Ch 5 (P 125-)	Quiz 1
	Transport	Ch 12 (pp.341–352, 357-367)	Heavy metal literature due.
1-29	Transport	Journal article
	Transport	Ch 12 (pp. 351-356)
	Transport
2-5	Leaves	Ch 6
	Photosynthesis	Ch 10	Quiz 2
	Photosynthesis	Journal article
2-12	Photosynthesis	Ch 10
	Roots	Ch 7
	Nutrition	Ch 13
2-19	Nutrition	Journal article
	Catch up/review/discussion
	MIDTERM EXAM		MIDTERM EXAM
2-26	Secondary growth	Ch 8
	Secondary growth	Ch 8
	Reproduction & flowers	Ch 9	Special topic approval
3-3 to 3-18	SPRING BREAK
3-19	Reproduction & flowers	Ch 9	Quiz 3
	Growth regulation	Ch 14
	Growth regulation	Ch 14	annotated bibliography
3-26	Growth regulation	Ch 14
	Growth regulation	Journal article
	Diversity/systematics	Ch 18	outline
4-2	Algae	Ch 21 (617-644)	Quiz 4
	Algae	Journal article
	Non-vascular plants	Ch 22
4-9	Non-vascular plants	Ch 22
	Seedless vascular plants	Ch 23	Draft synthesis due
	Seedless vascular plants	Ch 23
4-16	Gymnosperms	Ch 24	Quiz 5
	Gymnosperms	Ch 24	comments
	Angiosperms	Ch 25
4-23	Angiosperms	Ch 25
	Applied plant biology	Ch 15 (pp. 457-459)
	Applied plant biology	journal articles	Review paper due
4-30	Special topics	ST reviews	Quiz 6
	Special topics	ST reviews
	Special topics, review?	ST reviews
5-7	8:30am		Last Exam