Have a green thumb? Love to garden? Want to know more about the biology of plants? Join us for a 12-week tour of the usually lovely—sometimes lethal!—world of plants.
How to make the most of this course:
1. You can get the most out of this class by coming to class, taking the quizzes, doing a little research into any specimen you like, and going outside with your field guides to look at plants!
2. Quizzes are graded automatically on Moodle.
Total number of class meetings: 13
Duration of each class: 45 minutes
Prerequisite: None
Suggested grade level: 6th to 8th grade
Suggested credit: 1 full semester Life Science or Earth Science.
Instructor: MacBeth Derham
Instructor email: macbethderham@gmail.com
Course description: In this course, we will look at plants as whole organisms and plants as composed of individual parts. We will explore the way plant parts work together to transfer energy from the sun to a usable food source for animals. Students will choose a plant to study and present a brief overview for classmates.
Course outline:
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Week 1: Introduction to the science of Botany
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Week 2: Plant cells—a close look
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Week 3: Plant parts
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Week 4: The leaf
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Week 5: The root
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Week 6: The stem
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Week 7: The flower
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Week 8: Pollination and pollinators
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Week 9: Seeds
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Week 10: Fruit
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Week 11: Pests
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Week 12: Evergreens and student presentations
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Week 13: Carnivorous plants and student presentations
Course materials: Practical Botany for Gardeners, ISBN-13: 978-0226093932 (https://amzn.to/3gUr1Tv or BookFinder.com)
Homework: Weekly quizzes, assigned reading, and photo safaris (students may take pictures of plants they encounter; these will be added to the PowerPoint each week). Each student will present a brief overview on the plant of his choosing to the class during the last two days of the semester.
- Teacher: MacBeth Derham