BIOL 205 - Botany

4 Credits: (3 lecture, 3 lab)

Course Description
This course is designed for biology majors. Course content includes the morphology, anatomy, physiology, ecology, and evolution of major plant groups. Representatives of the algae, fungi, bryophytes and vascular plants are studied in detail. The importance and use of plants in the fields of medicine, genetic engineering and biotechnology will be introduced. Representative specimens of the local flora will be collected and identified. 

Note Fall semester only.

Prerequisite BIOL 120 or permission of instructor

A. Recognize plant cellular and subcellular structures, including microscopic examination.

B. Describe the basic physiological functions of plants, including photosynthesis, transport, and reproduction.

C. Recognize basic comparative plant anatomy and morphology.

D. Recognize the distinguishing characteristics of groups within the Kingdom Plantae by comparing and contrasting plant-like organisms from other Kingdoms.

E. Describe the basic developmental processes in plants and the effect of light, temperature and plant hormones on developmental processes.

F. Discuss the major evolutionary advances in plant form and function, including the various anatomical and physiological adaptations of plants to diverse habitats.

G. Explain the basic concepts of plant biotechnology, plant genetic engineering, economic botany and medical botany.

H. Explain concepts of plant ecology including pollination ecology, symbioses, succession, biomes nutrient cycling in ecosystems, human impacts on ecosystems, impacts of invasive species, and interactions between plants and other organisms.

I. Use a key to identify representative plants of Pennsylvania.

J. Apply investigatory skills to experimental problems through data collection, analysis, and report writing.

Content
A. The plant cell and its metabolism

B. Plant tissues and structure

C. Development and growth

D. Plant nutrition and transport

E. Plant diversity

F Plant genetics, genetic engineering, and biotechnology

G. Plant ecology

H. Plant identification

Student Evaluation
Evaluation will be in the form of lecture exams, final, and a laboratory component that includes attendance, lab quizzes, and laboratory reports.

Bibliography
Attenborough, D. The Private Life of Plants. Atlanta: Turner, 1995. Videocassette.

Attenborough, D. The Private Life of Plants: A Natural History of Plant Behavior. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1995. Print.

Bailey, J., ed. The Penguin Dictionary of Plant Sciences. London: Penguin, 1999. Print.

Brako, L. Scientific and Common Names of 7,000 Vascular Plants in the United States. St. Paul: APS, 1995. Print.

Crowson, R. Classification and Biology. New Brunswick: Aldine, 2006. Print.

Fernald, Merritt Lyndon. Gray’s Manual of Botany. 8th ed. New York: Reinhold, 1970. Print.

Harris, J.G., and M.W. Harris. Plant Identification Terminology: An Illustrated Glossary. Spring Lake: Spring Lake, 1994. Print.

Lewis, Mark. Classification of Living Organisms. New York: Rosen, 2011. Print.

Lieberman, Bruce. Prehistoric Life: Evolution and the Fossil Record. Hoboken: Wiley, 2010. Print.

Little, Elbert. The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees. New York: Knopf, 1980. Print. LABORATORY HOLDING

Miller, Howard. How to Know the Trees. Dubuque: Brown, 1978. Print. LABORATORY HOLDING

National Research Council. Plant Biology Research and Training for the 21st Century. Washington: National Academy, 1992. Print.

Petrides, George A. Peterson Field Guides: Trees and Shrubs. 2nd ed. Boston: Houghton, 1972. Print. LABORATORY HOLDING

Pollan, Michael. The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s-eye View of the World. New York: Random, 2002. Print.

Rudall, P. Anatomy of Flowering Plants: An Introduction to Structure and Development. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1992. Print.

Stewart, Amy. Wicked Plants: The Weed that Killed Lincoln’s Mother & Other Botanical Atrocities. Chapel Hill: Algonquin, 2009. Print.

Stidd, Benton M., and Robert D. Henry. Key to Common Woody Landscape Plants in the Midwest. Champaign: Stipes, 1995. Print. LABORATORY HOLDING

Sumner, J. The Natural History of Medicinal Plants. Portland: Timber, 2000. Print.