Biology 360, General Botany

Instructor: Dr. Diane L. Marshall

Office: Bio 186

Lab: Bio 121

Phone: 277-1168

Email: marshall@unm.edu

Office hours: T & Th 10:45-12:00 and by appointment

Course Web Page: http://www.unm.edu/~marshall/genbot.htm

Course goals: To provide a broad introduction to the structure, function and ecology of angiosperms and a survey of other plants and related taxa. To prepare students for advanced courses in botany. To develop interest and enthusiasm for the study of plants.

Prerequisites: Bio 121L, Bio 122L, Bio 219, Bio 221

Lecture: Tuesday and Thursday 9:30-10:45, Room 19 Castetter Hall

Laboratory: Room 120 Castetter Hall, Section 2: Tuesday 2:00-4:45pm

Section 3: Wednesday 2:00-4:45pm

Registration for a laboratory section is required

Text: Raven, P.H., Evert, R.F. and Eichhorn, S.E. 1999. Biology of Plants, 6^th ed.

Laboratory manual: Evert, R.F. and Eichhorn, S. E. Laboratory topics in btoany.

Exams: Tests will be primarily short answer and essay. There are three midterms and a final.

Grades:

1. Exams: 3 midterms, 13.33% each 40%

final exam, 50% cumulative 15%

2. Attendance and participation in lecture 5%

3. Laboratory - weekly exercises and practicals 20%

4. Project - There will be a laboratory project 20%

that lasts most of the semester. An oral

presentation and a scientific paper using proper

format and references will be required.

A friend of mine once said, "we are scientists because we like what we do, not because we like what we know". Thus, you cannot learn science without doing science. However, the traditional 3-hour lab serves up science in small pieces. In truth most experiments are ongoing over weeks if not years and some work is done every day or every week. Therefore, a different kind of laboratory experience is a major focus of this course.

You will, working in groups, perform a selection experiment on a population of rapid-cycling Brassica rapa to test whether the character under selection has a genetic basis. You will

1. Choose a trait to study - you'll use the scientific literature to find arguments for why your trait might be of importance.

2. Plant and care for your Brassica population.

3. Measure the trait you chose.

4. Select the 10 plants with the highest values of the trait and the 10 plants with the lowest.

5. Pollinate flowers within each selection line to produce seeds for the next generation.

6. Harvest seeds and plant a second generation.

7. Grow these plants to measure the trait.

8. Analyze your data to test for a response to selection.

9. Find literature on similar studies.

10. Write a paper about your experiment in the style of a paper in the American Journal of Botany.

11. Make a short oral presentation on your work.

That is, you will do all the parts of the study and make all the necessary decisions. I know this is new to most of you, but we will help you along the way. In the end, you will have a product to be proud of and an answer to the question posed by the experiment.