BIOL 3320           PLANT MORPHOLOGY LECTURE SYLLABUS           SPRING 2003

The Instructor

Dr. Heather Sutton

Office: Science 329

Phone: (770) 499-3454

Office Hours:

By appointment. Please do not hesitate to ask for an appointment should you need help with class for whatever reason. We will set up a mutually agreeable time.

Schedule

Class Time: TTH 11:00 - 12:15am

Class Room: SC 213

The first day of class is Thursday, January 9th, and the last day of class is Tuesday, April 29th. The last day to withdraw without academic penalty is Wednesday, March 19th.

Prerequisites:           BIOL 2107

                                       BIOL 2108  

Corequisite:                BIOL 3320L

 

Text:

Raven, P.H., R.F. Evert, and S.E. Eichhorn. 1999. Diversity of Plants. W.H. Freeman and Co. 6th Edition.

Course Objectives

1. To give the student an appreciation of the amazing diversity found in the major groups of plants and algae.
2. To give the student an understanding of the characteristics (expecially lifecycle characteristics) of plants and algae that are used in their classification into major groups.
3. To give the student an understanding of the evolutionary relationships between groups of plants and algae, incuding those groups that are extinct.

Course Catalogue Description

           Evolutionary friends and relationships of major groups of non-vascular and vascular plants as seen in vegetative and reproductive morphology, life cycles, and paleobotany.

A > 90%          B > 80%          C > 70%          D > 60%         F < 60%   

TENTATIVE LECTURE SCHEDULE

ATTENDANCE

Attendance will not be taken. You are however, strongly encouraged to attend class. Lecture notes will not necessarily be closely related to what is in the text, and will not be made available on the web, or in any other form. If you miss a class, I recommend you get notes from a fellow student. I will generally have extra handouts wit me from the prvious few classes. You will be responsible for finding out about any important announcements that you might have missed (announcements are generally made at the beginning of class).

If you are late to class please enter with minimum disruption to your fellow students.

As a courtesy to your fellow students, please turn off cell phones and beepers before the start of class.

TESTS AND EXAMS

There are three tests scheduled during the semester, and one final exam. Each test will cover the material covered in the lectures and readings since the last test, with an emphasis on lecture material. The final exam will be comprehensive. Tests will use a variety of testing methods including multiple choice, short answer, matching, and essay formats.

For those individuals who miss a test for a valid reason (sickness, death in the family), a makeup test will be given. Verification of the valid reason will be required. The makeup test will consist of essay questions only, and will be taken as soon as possible on the student's return to school. It is the student's responsibility to arrange for the makeup test to be scheduled. Students missing a test without an acceptable excuse will receive a zero. There will be no early or makeup final exams.

If a test has to be cancelled due to inclement weather, the test will be given during the next scheduled class period. If there are multiple days of inclement weather, I reserve the right to cancel a test and adjust the total points for the course accordingly.

If you have any questions about the grading of a test or assignment, please discuss it with me during the class period in which it was returned.

ENRICHMENT EVENTS

Each student is required to complete 2 enrichments events during the semester.  There are a variety of options for completion of enrichment events.  One option includes visiting a botanical garden such as the Atlanta Botanical Gardens, Barnsley Gardens, or Dekalb College Botanical Garden.  (If you are traveling you may wish to visit a botanical garden in another city).  You may go to presentations sponosored by the Georgia Native Plant Society, or other similar organizations. There may be some suitable presentations on campus.  I will try to keep you informed of events I hear of, but you should be on the lookout yourselves.  Please ask if you are unsure of the suitability of an event.  The event must of course have something to do with plants, but could include presentations on conservation of plants, for instance, and not just ones that have to do strictly with plant morphology.  Service projects with groups such as the Nature Conservancy could also count, as long as some plant work is involved (eg. eradication of exotic plants in Nature Preserves, or plant rescue from sites to be developed).  Another alternative is to go on some hikes with either a camera or a sketchpad, and record some of the plants you find.  You must include notes with each drawing/photo, and include information such as what phylum the plant belongs to, habitat, and so on.  I will lead several such hikes during out of class times during the spring (April) over at the Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield. Students with special interests (eg. Orchids, xeriscaping, bonsai) can do projects on those topics. Ask first to make sure the topic is acceptable.

A write-up of each event will be required. The write-up should summarize what you learned from the event, observations you may have made, and a statement as to whether or not you felt the event was worthwhile. Many enrichment projects will lend themselves well to having photographs as a focus of the write-up. For example, an enrichment event based on a trip to the Botanical Gardens could have a number of photos (15+) of examples of plants from various phyla, complete with labels, and features of the plant that you can observe that cause it to be placed in that phylum. For those with artistic ability, drawings can be substituted for photos. Events where photos are not useful (eg. Seminars) will require longer written portions than those with photos (about 3 typed pages).

Enrichment events are due by the last day of class.

Late enrichment evetns will not be accepted. It would be to your benefit to turn at least one of your reports in during the semester in advance of the due date. Early reports are most welcome!

CHANGES TO SYLLABUS

Any change to this syllabus will be made in writing and distributed to the class at least one week in advance of the change going into effect.