BI 247                                                 BOTANY                                       Fall 2002

Professor:             Mark Lubkowitz

 Office: Cheray Science, Room 313d

  Phone:            654-2695

  Email:            mlubkowitz@smcvt.edu

  Office hours: W 1-3, Thurs 9-11, Fri. 1-3

    **Please come see me if you have any questions or need additional help.**

  Class Schedule:  MWF 8:30-9:20    

  Lab Schedule: M 1-4 Cheray Science, Room 323

 

 

Course Description:  This course is an introductory course to botany, the study of plants, and is meant to provide the students with a broad-based knowledge of the plant kingdom, favoring explanations involving the process of science. 

 

 

Text:  Mauseth, J. 1998 Botany, 2^nd ed.  Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Supplemental materials may be assigned from reserved materials in the library or assigned from electronic journals on the WWW.

 

 

Evaluation

Because such a large part of science is not only the content of the subject but how the information was derived (i.e. experiments), exams will consist of questions designed to test your knowledge of the material as well as your ability to synthesize ideas and solve biological problems.  The following list gives the summary of how I will determine your grade for this class.  Details on each of these assignments will be discussed in class, well in advance of the due dates.

 

Exams                                                              400

Laboratory                                                       200

TOTAL                                                            600

 

 

 

Oral presentations:  Each student will give a presentation and lead a discussion on a topic in Botany. You may pick a topic that interests you or may choose from one of several suggested topics.  Your presentation should be approximately 15 minutes in length and will count as 40% of your last exam.  We will discuss the format and content of these presentations in more detail in class.  Possible topics: Domestication history of crop plant, Plants of Vermont, Medicinal herbs, Carniverous plants, VAM plants, Parasitic plants, Desert plants, or Invasive exotic plants.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Course organization: Tentative Class Schedule

Date		Topic	Chapter
September	4	Life as a plant
	6-11	Plant cells, tissues, and primary growth of stems	5
	13-23	Structure and function of leaves and roots	6-7
	25	Exam
	27-30	Secondary growth	8
October	2-11	Life cycles, the flower deconstructed, seeds, and fruits	9
	16-21	Photosynthesis and respiration	Assigned sections of 10&11
	23	Exam
	25-28	Transport and nutrition	Assigned sections of 12&13
	30-1	Morphogenesis and hormones	14
November	4-6	Plants and pathogens	Handout
	8-13	Algae, non-vascular plants, and seedless vascular plants	Assigned sections of 21-23
	15	Exam
	18-25	Gymnosperms and angiosperms	24 & 25
December	2-9	Oral presentations
	11-13	Arabidopsis, maize, rice, and biotechnology	handout
		Exam

 

Important Dates:        EXAM 1                      September 25

                                    EXAM 2                      October 23

                                    EXAM 3                      November 15

                                    EXAM 4                      December