| Exams:
There will be two mid-term exams held during
regular class time on October 10 and November 14.
The final exam will be taken during the exam period
and will mostly cover material from the last unit
with some cumulative questions.
Labs: Labs will provide us with
an opportunity for detailed examination of the
plants discussed in class. Note that you do not
have to turn in a lab report each week. However,
you will be tested on the material covered in
lab during the lab practical to be held during
lab time on December 7. Therefore, it is to your
benefit to keep a lab notebook containing a clear
set of notes and well-labeled drawings.
Paper Discussions: These assignments
are designed to provide you with experience in
reading, thinking about, and discussing scientific
literature. Nearly every Thursday, we will take
20 or 30 minutes at the end of class to talk over
a primary research paper or review article. One
student will be assigned to lead and guide the
discussion, making sure that the major points
are covered. However, each student is expected
to contribute her own ideas. Questions to bear
in mind include: what was the goal of the article
or research? how was the work done? what new findings
are reported? how do the results fit into what
is already known? are there any weak points to
the paper or the research?
Herbarium Collection: During the
course of the semester you will assemble an herbarium
by identifying, pressing, and mounting plant specimens.
Additional information about this assignment will
be provided during lab.
SEM Poster: The scanning electron
microscope is an excellent tool for investigating
evolutionary trends in the plant kingdom. Selecting
one of the major plant phyla, each student will
use the SEM to examine morphological traits in
a representative species. The information and
images you obtain will be presented in the form
of a poster.
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