BOT 1010 Introductory Botany
Spring Semester 2013
8 – 9:15 am Tuesday and Thursday - VH 131
Dr. Suzanne Koptur - OE 232  Office hours: W 10 am - noon; R 9:30 – 11 am; and by appt.

BOT 1010 - Introductory Botany Syllabus

Course Goals:  The purpose of this course is to introduce non-major students to the world of plants, including their scientific and cultural importance.  We accomplish this through lectures emphasizing plant structure and evolution, plant diversity, plants and the environment, and global issues involving plants.  The lecture is paralleled by closely related laboratory and field exercises that provide hands-on experiences with plants, including gardening and the identification of plants in the local environment.  This course has the following learning goals:

·       To see the world from a plant’s perspective, which includes understanding the similarities and differences of plant structures and processes as compared to human/animal structures and processes.

·       The diversity of plants--what is and isn't a plant? and what are the major types of plants?

·       The evolution and function of plants and the distribution of ecosystems throughout the planet

·       The central place of plants in global cycles and their relationships to environmental issues, including climate change.

·       The importance of plants in all cultures, emphasizing their roles in providing food and medicine in societies throughout history.

·       The domestication of crops and the origins of agriculture and forestry.

·       The importance of plants as commodities driving the historical forces of exploration, trade, colonialism, and contemporary economies.

This course meets the Core Curriculum Natural Sciences requirement when taken with the lab.  

        Grading:  Grades will be based on 3 exams (either 3 hour exams, or 2 hour exams and the cumulative final exam) plus in-class activities.  The in-class activities will include quizzes, as well as student response activities using i-clickers.  Attendance is mandatory and you must attend class to get credit for the in-class portion of the grade.  Each exam is worth 25% of your grade for a total of 75%, while the in-class activities (quizzes, essays, and problems) are worth 25% of your grade. Data from other courses has shown that participation (as indicated by i-clicker response) and grades are positively correlated!   The grading scale is: 90-100 = A; 80 – 89 = B; 70 – 79 = C; 60 – 69 = D; below 60 = F. 
Laboratory:  The lab associated with this lecture is BOT 1010L, Introductory Botany Lab.  Lectures and labs are coordinated so that material covered in lecture is seen in lab, though not always simultaneously.  The lab syllabus can be found at http://www.fiu.edu/kopturs/BOT1010/Lab/index.html.

 Course Policies:  You are expected to be on time to class, and to stay the full period. You are expected to maintain high standards of academic honesty. Any student found in violation of these standards will earn an automatic F and be reported to the Deans Office, no exceptions made. In accordance with FIU's policy on academic honesty, as set forth in Section 2.44 of the Academic Affairs Policies and Procedures Manual (http://academic.fiu.edu/docs/aapolicies.htm), it is expected that students in Introductory Botany will not submit the academic work of another as their own.

Textbook (required):
        Graham, L.E., J.M. Graham and L.W. Wilcox.  2006.  Plant Biology, 2nd ed. Pearson Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.  This book will provide background reading for all topics covered in class.  Two copies are on reserve (two-hour) at the library, under the professor’s last name.

Supplemental reading (recommended): Stewart, Amy. 2009. Wicked Plants.  Algonquin Books. We will use this book to make things diabolically exciting and for homework and extra credit activities.

Highly recommended book:  Lee, David W.  and Stacy West.  2011.  Wayside Trees of Tropical Florida: A Guide to the Native and Exotic Trees and Palms of Miami and Tropical South Florida [Paperback, and/or CD/ROM].  This book will help you to learn and identify many common plants, and enhance your enjoyment of plants and your local environment.

 Introductory Botany Schedule of events

The course website can be found in Blackboard Learn on FIU e-campus; please check in regularly for course news, activities, lecture notes, and exam study guides.

Week

Date

Topic

Graham chapters

1

8 Jan T

Introduction

1

 

10 Jan R

Plants and People

2

2

15 Jan T

Cell Structure

4

 

17 Jan R

Photosynthesis and Respiration

5

3

22 Jan T

DNA and RNA; Mitosis and Cell Division

6 & 7

 

24 Jan R

Plant Development

8

4

29 Jan T

Stems and Roots

9 & 10

 

31 Jan R

Leaves

 11

5

5 Feb T

Exam 1

 

7 Feb R

Plant Behavior and Hormones

12

6

12 Feb T

Reproduction, Meiosis, Life Cycles

13

 

14 Feb R

Inheritance, Genetics, Genetic Engineering

14 & 15

7

19 Feb T

Evolution

16

 

21 Feb R

Plant Diversity

17

8

26 Feb T

Prokaryotes and the Origin of Life

18

 

28 Feb R

Protists and Eukaryotes

19

9

5 Mar T

Fungi and Lichens

20

 

7 Mar R

Exam 2

10

12 Mar T

SPRING BREAK

 

 

14 Mar R

SPRING BREAK

 

11

19 Mar T

Plants without seeds

21

 

21 Mar R

Gymnosperms

22

12

26 Mar T

Cinematic interlude I

 

28 Mar R

Cinematic interlude 2

13

2 Apr T

Angiosperms

23

 

4 Apr R

Coevolution

24

14

9 Apr T

Ecology – Plants and the Biosphere

25

 

11 Apr R

Ecosystems

26, 27, 28

15

16 Apr T

Plants, Humans, and Global Climate Change

29

 

18 Apr R

Exam 3

 

16

24 Apr T

FINAL EXAM (cumulative)