Course Description
Biological concepts that are pertinent to the ecology and evolution of plants, focusing on the most attractive reproductive structure of plants-flowers! Topics will include the morphology, structures, functions, and diversity of flowering plants. Class format is highly interactive. Students will learn the key concepts from both lecture materials and hands-on activities working with flowers.
Athena Title
Flowers
Prerequisite
BIOL 1103 or BIOL 1104 or BIOL 1107 or BIOL 1108 or BIOL 2107 or BIOL 2108 or PBIO 1210 or PBIO 1220
Semester Course Offered
Offered spring
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
1. Help students learn and understand ecology and evolution of flowering plants. 2. Facilitate learning of scientific knowledge using primary literature and original studies. 3. Help students recognize the significance of flowers-both to plants and to other organisms, such as insects, birds, and humans. 4. Increase students’ appreciation of the importance of flowering plants to human society. Students are expected to be able to: 1. Describe and recognize basic structures of a flower 2. Explain how different floral structures function together to achieve reproduction of flowering plants 3. Predict the most likely pollinators when presented with flowers, based on the principle of pollination syndromes 4. Design studies to test hypotheses on reproductive ecology of plants 5. Understand study designs, data analysis, and result interpretation in primary literature 6. Compose a written report and an oral presentation about at least one species of flowering plants
Topical Outline
1. Morphology of flowers 2. Diversity of flowering and evolutionary trend in floral traits 3. Flower development 4. Interaction between flowers and pollinators 5. Pollination syndromes 6. Local spring flora 7. Examples of mutualistic relationships 8. Pollinator behavior 9. Asexual versus sexual reproduction