Land Plants and Their
Environment
Biology 207
Instructors:
Jerry G. Chmielewski
Objectives: This course is designed to introduce non-majors
with an interest in botany to the range of morphological variation
encompassed by organisms included in the plant kingdom, as well as
to discuss those adaptations that have resulted in specific life
history strategies. The laboratory component of the course is a
hands on experience which emphasizes the identification of the
local flora. One section of this course is typically offered in the
fall semester.
Prerequisites: None
Credit
Value: 3
Contact
Time: Two 50
minute lectures and one 3 hour laboratory per week.
Outcomes:
Upon the successful
completion of this course a student should have developed an
understanding of:
- general plant
physiology as it relates to terrestrial plants
- basic plant
anatomy
- plant ecological
relationships
- the basic vocabulary of
plant taxonomy
- the principles behind
the identification of woody plant species from northeastern North
America
- the principles behind
the identification of the local herbaceous flora
- the use of dichotomous
keys in plant identification
- the major plant
communities of our region
Assessment:
- Quizzes: A number of
unannounced quizzes will be administered at the beginning of
lecture periods throughout the semester. The number of quizzes,
their content, independent value, and date of administation will be
at the discretion of the instructor.
- Laboratory quizzes: A
quiz will be administered at the end of each laboratory period.
Questions will relate to material examined during previous
laboratory periods. Test material is comprehensive. A written
report on sampling strategies will be included as part of this
grade.
- Plant collection: You
will be responsible for collecting, identifying, and preparing 25
plant specimens for submission. Included with each collection will
be the plant name, family name, collection date, collector, site of
collection, habitat, and any other information that may be
pertinent to the collection. Plants may not be collected from the
campus grounds.
- Essay: The effect of
____________ on our society.
- Term test 1: Questions
will deal with course content to date.
- Term test 2: Questions
will deal with course content to date.
- Laboratory final
examination: Questions will deal with material directly examined
during laboratory periods.
- Final examination:
Questions will be comprehensive dealing with material covered
during lecture periods.
Lecture
Schedule:
- Syllabus
- Mark Plotkin: A
Twentieth Century Medicine Man
- Taxonomy
- Construction and use of
dichotomous keys
- Phytography -
floral
- Phytography -
leaves
- Flowering plant
families
- Flowering plant
families
- Flowering plant
families
- Term test
one
- Root, stem, and leaf
anatomy
- Floral
biology
- Barriers to self
pollination
- Pollination
biology
- Fruit types, fruit
dispersal
- Plot
sampling
- Transect
sampling
- Plotless
sampling
- Term test
two
- Carnivorous
plants
- Gymnosperm
families
- Gymnosperm
families
- Pteridophytes
- Ginkgo
- Fungi and
lichen
- Equisetum
- Biomes
- Biomes
- Pennsylvania
forests
- Succession
- NOTE: Lecture sequence
and emphasis may vary.
Laboratory
Schedule:
- Campus herbs (north
woodlot)
- Campus herbs (ditches
and ponds)
- Campus herbs (playing
fields)
- Campus herbs (playing
fields)
- Film: Sexual Encounters
of the Floral Kind; Death trap: A Study of Carnivorous
Plants
- Campus herbs (Harmony
Homestead)
- Campus herbs (ski
hill)
- Campus trees
(deciduous)
- Plotless
sampling
- Gymnosperm
identification
- Pteridophytes
- Plant
anatomy
- Plant
anatomy
- Plant
anatomy
- Laboratory
final
- NOTE: Laboratory
sequence and emphasis may vary.
Miscellaneous Related
Links:
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