Biology 438 Spring 2010
MWF 10-11 AM Lecture Science 134
R 2:00-5:00 PM Laboratory Science 333
Hotlines: 860-465-4444 or 800-578-1449

Plant Physiology

Tentative Schedule

Dr. Ross Koning
MWF 9-10 AM Science 356
F 1-2 Science 356
Cell: 860-933-2712
koning∂easternct⋅edu
Date Lecture Topic Laboratory Resources
Mon-Jan 25 Introduction: Science Quiz 1
Statistics
S10 Leaf Data
Wed-Jan 27 Why Study Plants?
Fri-Jan 29 Basic Statistics
Mon-Feb 1 Basic Botany Quiz 2
Morphology
Plant Anatomy
Tissue Culture
Leaf Cross Section
Stem Cross Section
Root Cross Section
Wed-Feb 3 Basic Botany (continued)
Fri-Feb 5 More Basic Botany
Due: Statistics Worksheet
Mon-Feb 8 Finish Basic Botany Due: Plant Anatomy Amp. Abs.
Quiz 3
Cytology
Sample Abstract
Wed-Feb 10 Snow Day
Fri-Feb 12 President's Vacation
Mon-Feb 15 President's Vacation Quiz 4
Enzyme Kinetics
 
Wed-Feb 17 Basic Plant Cytology 1 to cytosol
Fri-Feb 19 Due: Plant Morphology Amp. Abs.
Basic Plant Cytology 2 through vacuole
Mon-Feb 22 Basic Plant Cytology 2 through photorespiration Quiz 5
Mineral Nutrition
Diffusion
Periodic Chart
Betacyanin Structure
Wed-Feb 24 Cytoskeleton
Cell Cycle
Fri-Feb 26 Due: Plant Cytology Amp. Abs.
Enzyme Basics
Mon-Mar 1 Enzyme Kinetics Quiz 6
(Finish Any Remaining Lecture Material)
Excel Workshop: NonLinear Regression Analysis
Nonlinear Regression Pointers
Wed-Mar 3 Mineral Requirements
Fri-Mar 5 Due: Diffusion Amp. Abs.
Finish Minerals
Water and Water Movement
Mon-Mar 8 Finish Water Movement
Osmosis
Quiz 7
Osmosis
 
Wed-Mar 10 Root intake
Fri-Mar 12 Transpiration
Mon-Mar 15 Solutes Quiz 8
Replenish Mineral Elements
Transpiration
 
Wed-Mar 17 Finish Solutes
Fri-Mar 19 Translocation
Due: Osmosis
Mon-Mar 22 Spring Break
Wed-Mar 24
Fri-Mar 26
Date Lecture Topic Laboratory Resources
Mon-Mar 29 Light and Chlorophyll Quiz 9
Planting Seeds, etc.
Finish Mineral Nutrition
Model System: Happy Bird
Due by 5 PM:
Enzyme lab report
 
Wed-Mar 31 Light Reactions
Due: Transpiration Abstract and Formal Figure(s) with legends
Biology Comp Exam?
Fri-Apr 2 Day of Reflection
Mon-Apr 5 Intro: Calvin Cycle Quiz 10
General Introduction
Photon Flux Density
CO2 Electrode Alternative
Treat: Pea Stem Growth
PSN Calculations
More Cuvette Data
Wed-Apr 7 Finish: Calvin Cycle
Fri-Apr 9 Photorespiration
Due: Happy Bird Handout Only
Mon-Apr 12 C4 and CAM Cycles
Photosynthetic Ecophysiology
Quiz 11
Finish Pea Stem Growth
Treat Root Initiation
Measure Light and Pea Stem Growth
Plant Wheat Berries
Pea Stem Growth Plot
Wed-Apr 14 Plant Respiration-Glycolysis
Fri-Apr 16 Treat Bean Branching
Treat: Leaf Abscission in Science 118
Due: Mineral Nutrition Abstract + Table
Mon-Apr 19 Plant Respiration-Gluconeogenesis + Krebs
Quiz 12
Finish (Dry Weights) Light and Pea Growth
Start: Leaf Senescence
Plant Tissue Culture Outcome
Plant Transformation
Tissue Culture Plot
Wed-Apr 21 Finish Respiration-ETS and Ox Phos
Plant Respiration-Pentose Phosphate Shunt
Signal Transduction and Cell Growth
Fri-Apr 23 Phytochrome
Due: Photosynthesis Abstract + Figure + Amp
Mon-Apr 26 Set up Seed Germination in Science 333
Due: Genetic and Hormonal Pea Growth Abstract +
Amp Mat + Print of Lab Aid Page
Measure Seed Germination
Quiz 13
Finish Root Initiation
Finish Bean Branch
Share data for Leaf Senescence
pH Plot
Sucrose Plot
GA Dose Plot
Hormone Dose Plot
Root Initiation Fit
Root Internode Fit
Bean Branch: Auxin
Bean Branch: Cytokinin
Wed-Apr 28 Photoperiodism
Fri-Apr 30 Blue-Light Responses
Due: Light and Growth Abstract + Amp + Figs
Mon-May 3 Finish: Blue-Light Responses
Due: Wheat Leaf Senescence Abstract + LabAidPage
Quiz 14
Finish Seed Germination Counts
Finish Leaf Abscission
Transformation Subculture MSOTG
Petiole Abscission
Senescence Plots
Seed Germination Z-test Sheet
Abscission Plots
Wed-May 5 Auxins
Fri-May 7 More About Auxin, Gibberellins
Due: Mung Bean Rooting Abstract + 2 LabAidPages
Mon-May 10 Cytokinins
Due: Bean Branch Abstract + Pictogram
Reading Day: No Lab
Wed-May 12 Ethylene, Abscisic Acid
Seed Germination Worksheet Only
Leaf Abscission Abstract + LabAid Print
Wed-May 19 9-11 AM Comprehensive Final Exam in Plant Physiology in Science 134

OBJECTIVES:
This course satisfies one of the six upper-level course requirements for the biology major. It is designed to provide you with comprehensive exposure to the subject of plant physiology. You will learn about the structure and function of plants throughout their development from seeds through reproduction. Considerable experience in chemistry is assumed, as is recall from BIO 220 (Cell Biology). Our discussions and exercises will cover from the biochemical level through the organismal level. The laboratory exercises will complement the lectures. If you are a person who has over-specialized in molecular biology, zoology or human biology, this course will expand your horizons significantly. As a study of producers, this course will examine those organisms so important because of their position at the energy and elemental intake portion of the energy pyramid and the food web! Upon these organisms depends human survival.

ELECTRONIC MATERIALS:
You will find lecture notes, lab exercises, due dates, and other course materials available for you on the World Wide Web at this address: http://plantphys.info/ There may be a required username:___________________ and password:___________________ to access some of these materials as they are copyrighted and therefore cannot be given out over the internet beyond the members of our class.

TEXT:
Several texts in Plant Physiology are published...I have chosen none of them because they are too deep (expecting too much background undergrads do not have yet) or are extremely expensive or both. If you want a finished, published text, older editions (except the first edition) are probably just fine for this course, but here are references for latest edition choices:

L. Taiz and E. Zeiger. 2007. Plant Physiology. 4th ed. Sinauer Associates, Inc. This is the deep, standard text at $90.

W. G. Hopkins and N. P. A. Huner. 2009. Introduction to Plant Physiology. 4th ed. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. While more introductory, it costs $110.

B. B. Buchanan, W. Gruissem, and R. L. Jones. 2000. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of Plants. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. This book is VERY deep in biochemistry and extremely expensive at $130 for a new paperback copy of an aging edition! However, it is very comprehensive!

LAB MANUAL:
Separate exercise worksheets will be handed out for your use. You should obtain a three-ring binder to hold them together as a laboratory manual. The exercises will overlap in time and due-dates, so having them all together and with you in class each day is critical! The binder will help with that. I know spiral books are all the rage, but a 3-ring binder is vastly superior for this course! Put your name inside your binder so when it is lost you have at least some hope of recovery!

LAB KIT:
Large three-ring binder with zipper pouch containing: Small Scissors, Metric Rule, Fine Forceps, Pencil (mechanical preferred), Eraser, Simple Calculator (+−×÷=). Former students suggest getting some color pencils for your zipper pouch. A small pocket knife or whatever you like to clean under your fingernails would be good to have too. You absolutely need to have a USB=flash=jump drive. All of these are available inexpensively at retail stores just about anywhere. The alternative to the USB drive is to bring your own laptop with Microsoft Excel installed to some lab sessions (not inexpensive but maybe most useful to you)! Lab worksheets even partially completed in ink will receive a 10% penalty...use pencil only...keep it in your zipper pouch so it is ready for use!

GRADING:
Your final course grade will be based on weekly quizzes, laboratory worksheets and amplified abstracts, a lab report, and a final exam as described below.

QUIZZES:
There will be a quiz given each week for the first few minutes of laboratory time. Emphasis for each quiz will be whatever has been covered since the previous quiz in either lecture or laboratory, but questions could be on anything previously in the course and/or synthesis of separate ideas presented in the course. Each quiz may consist of a variety of question types; be prepared for all! You will be given one week after each quiz is returned in which to challenge, in writing, the grading/scoring of that quiz. THERE WILL BE NO MAKE-UP QUIZZES! Being tardy for the quiz will shorten your time to work on the quiz...when all students who are on-time to class are finished, all quizzes will be collected promptly. You be prompt too! Quizzes are collectively worth 35% of the course grade.

LAB EXERCISES:
Each laboratory exercise will be inspired by a handout. You will work with one or more partner(s). Each person will fill out and hand in their own handout and/or write a one-page abstract about the project amplified by attached notes, drawings, graphs, calculations, etc., depending on the exercise. Electronic files are not acceptable documentation of your laboratory exercises. The worksheet and/or amplified abstract will be due one week after the exercise is officially completed and the due date will be posted on the official syllabus page for this course on the website. The papers are due at the beginning of the class period on the indicated date. Papers received after the starting time of the lecture by even 1 minute will be considered one-day late. Late papers will receive a penalty of 10% per day late but after the first graded exercise paper is returned to one of your classmates, your late submission is no longer acceptable and earns a grade of 0%! I grade as promptly as possible, so you need to be prompt too! The laboratory exercises are collectively worth 35% of the course grade.

LABORATORY REPORT:
The format of the lab report must follow the standard guidelines in the departmental style manual (Pechenik). The laboratory report must be handed in as a hard-copy; electronic files are not acceptable. The laboratory report is due no later than 5 PM on Thursday, April 1, 2010; failure to hand in this report by this deadline will result in a course grade of F, regardless of the other grades earned in the course. The laboratory report is worth 10% of the course grade. With some trepidation, at your request, I have provided a link to a scoring rubric I have used in past semesters. I think providing this undercuts your experience but perhaps you have already done that to yourself by letting this assignment go to the end of the semester without any attention on your part? If it helps you write a better report, even as a crutch, well maybe at least you had to so some thinking on your own and having a complete report is perhaps a better experience that the usual freshman level paper.

COMPREHENSIVE FINAL EXAM:
You will take a comprehensive final exam in this course at the appropriate time on the official final exam schedule. The exam covers all material in this course. Studying the quizzes will assist you in preparing for the final. But you will also want to be prepared to answer broader questions, perhaps even integrative essay questions that go beyond weekly coverage. The Final Exam constitutes 20% of the course grade.

PARTICIPATION:
Participation in this laboratory course is essential but, due to its subjective nature, is not given grading credit in a specific numerical sense. However, should your course grade come near a grading border, my sense of your participation in this course will be used as leverage into or barrier from the next-higher grade. Being on-time to all classes, having all materials needed for class, turning in assignments on time or early, being thorough in your laboratory work, being attentive in both lab and lecture classes, working efficiently and cooperatively with lab partners, asking pertinent questions, having answers to my questions in lectures, etc. are all good ways to impress me about your commitment to learning about plant physiology. If you are a person who procrastinates, who does only the minimum, who is tardy with everything, who complains about academic workloads, who watches lab partners doing the work, who sleeps in class, or who can not or will not do simple math, well...you will get what you earn...and only what you earn.

If you are a commuter to our campus, you should remember that parking is often hard to find and leave extra time for the search, and for the walking that may be required once you are parked. Also, you need to think about alternatives should you have vehicle problems. Is there a family member who can give you a ride? Do you have contacts for other ECSU students from your town with whom you might carpool? Are your tires good enough for the driving conditions that New England weather will present? Commuters need to be courageous about driving in snow, on glare ice, in torrential rain, etc.

ACCOMMODATIONS:
If you believe you will need special accommodations for this class, please contact the Office of AccessAbility Services at (860) 465-5573 as soon as possible. I cannot provide accommodations until I have received a formal accommodation letter from the Office of AccessAbility Services.

CHEATING:
In many exercises you will work with laboratory partners and will share the data obtained. Your calculations, your reports, abstracts, and quizzes must, however, be done ON YOUR OWN. Plagiarism will not be tolerated and severe penalties will be invoked. Copying will not be tolerated. Extra credit work will not be given to any one for any reason!

 

 

 

 


This page © Ross E. Koning 1994.



Go to the Course Schedule Page.

Go to the Plant Physiology Information Homepage.

Send comments and bug reports to Ross Koning at rkoning@snet.net.