PLANT STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION
Plant Sciences 2125
University of Missouri
Lectures: Tuesday and Thursday 1:00-1:50pm, Waters 200
Labs: Wednesday 10:00-11:50am (Section 01B) or 1:00-2:50pm (Section 01A),
Agriculture Building 3-22H
Instructor:
Dr. Melissa Remley
Division of Plant Sciences
Office: 1-57 Agriculture Building
E-mail: [email protected]
Office phone: (573)882-6406
Course Description:
Plant Structure and Function provides an introduction to plant anatomy and plant
physiology, exploring how plant structures and processes are involved in growth and
development. This course uses concepts from botany, soil science, chemistry, and
biochemistry to understand how plants make a living from their environment.
Laboratory sessions involve short-term, hands-on experiments that explore such topics
as photosynthesis, mineral nutrition, plant-water relations, plant growth, and hormonal
regulations.
Prerequisites: BIO SCI 1200 (General Botany); PLNT S 2100 (Into to Soils); CHEM 1320
(Chemistry II)
Required Textbook:
Structure and Function of Plants, 2009, J. MacAdam, 1st Ed., Wiley-Blackwell, Ames, IA.
(ISBN-13: 978-0-8138-2718-6/2009)
Additional recommended resource:
Plant Physiology, 2010, L. Taiz and E. Zeiger, 5rd Edition, Sinauer Associates, Inc.,
Publishers (Sunderland, MA).
Blackboard:
The course’s Blackboard site can be found at https://courses.missouri.edu/
This site will be used to post lecture and laboratory handouts, grades, and course
announcements. Supplemental course materials may also be posted to the Blackboard
site. Students will be responsible to check the Blackboard site regularly and print needed
materials for class.
Attendance:
Class attendance is expected for all class periods. The student is responsible for
acquiring materials and announcements from the instructor and notes from a fellow
classmate pertaining to any missed periods. Any missed in-class “pop” or announced
quizzes cannot be made-up.
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Grading:
• Assignments and lab reports are due at the beginning of the class period on the
assigned due dates. Late assignments will be deducted 10% of the points possible
for every day late (including weekends) past the due date. For example, a
homework assignment worth 25 points that is late 1 day will be deducted 2.5 points
from the earned score and if 2 days late will be deducted 5 points.
• Late assignments and lab reports will only be accepted up to the beginning of the
first class meeting (includes lecture and lab) following the due date, after which the
assignment will be assigned 0 points.
• The instructor’s approval must be granted prior to the due date in order to avoid a
late or incomplete point penalty.
• Missed exam/quizzes cannot be made up. Only under extraordinary circumstances,
the student may be given a make-up exam at the discretion of the instructor IF the
instructor was notified prior to the missed exam.
• Many laboratory exercises require one session to initiate, and another session to
record measurements. Laboratory exercises cannot be made-up, therefore
attendance is greatly important. If a student is absent during a laboratory session
that initiates an experiment or terminates an experiment, the student will receive a
50% point deduction for the corresponding lab report.
• At the end of the semester, the lowest lab report score will be dropped and not
calculated into the final course grade. It is encouraged that students reserve the
lowest lab score for an emergency absence (i.e. due to illness, etc.).
• Lab reports are due at the beginning of the following lab period, OR when specified
by the instructor or TA.
Grading System:
3 Lecture exams @ 100 pts each
Final exam
Quizzes and homework assignments
10 Laboratory reports @ 20 pts each
Laboratory mid-term exam
Laboratory final exam
TOTAL POINTS
*total points may vary
300 pts
100 pts
100 pts*
200 pts*
50 pts
50 pts
800*
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Grading scale: based on % of total points earned
Grade
Plus (+)
Straight
Minus (-)
A
97.45+
97.44-91.45
91.44-89.45
B
89.44-87.45
87.44-81.45
81.44-79.45
C
79.44-77.45
77.44-71.45
71.44-69.45
D
69.44-67.45
67.44-61.45
61.44-59.45
F
≤59.44
This scale will not be raised and the instructor reserves the right to reduce the ranges at
the end of the semester.
Cell Phone and Computer Policy:
Turn cell phones off or on silent\vibrate mode and place them out-of-sight during
lectures and lab periods. Using a cell phone in any manor (talking, texting, calculator,
internet, etc.) is NOT PERMITTED during lectures and lab periods.
Any student using a computer to take notes during lectures should sit in the back row of
the lecture room as to not distract neighboring students. Use of the computer in any
way other than for lecture note taking is NOT PERMITTED. If a student is found to be
using a computer for any other purpose, the privilege to use computers during lecture
will be revoked for all students. The use of computers will not be allowed in the
laboratory sessions.
Academic Dishonesty Statement:
Academic integrity is fundamental to the activities and principles of a university. All
members of the academic community must be confident that each person's work has
been responsibly and honorably acquired, developed, and presented. Any effort to gain
an advantage not given to all students is dishonest whether or not the effort is
successful. The academic community regards breaches of the academic integrity rules as
extremely serious matters. Sanctions for such a breach may include academic sanctions
from the instructor, including failing the course for any violation, to disciplinary
sanctions ranging from probation to expulsion. When in doubt about plagiarism,
paraphrasing, quoting, collaboration, or any other form of cheating, consult the course
instructor.
Academic Dishonesty includes but is not necessarily limited to the following:
•Cheating or knowingly assisting another student in committing an act of cheating or
other academic dishonesty.
•Plagiarism which includes but is not necessarily limited to submitting examinations,
themes, reports, drawings, laboratory notes, or other material as one’s own work when
such work has been prepared by another person or copied from another person.
•Unauthorized possession of examinations or reserve library materials, or laboratory
materials or experiments, or any other similar actions.
•Unauthorized changing of grades or markings on an examination or in an instructor’s
grade book or such change of any grade report.
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Intellectual Pluralism Statement:
The University community welcomes intellectual diversity and respects student rights.
Students who have questions or concerns regarding the atmosphere in this class
(including respect for diverse opinions) may contact the Departmental Chair or
Divisional Director; the Director of the Office of Students Rights and Responsibilities
(http://osrr.missouri.edu/); or the MU Equity Office (http://equity.missouri.edu/), or by
email at [email protected]. All students will have the opportunity to submit an
anonymous evaluation of the instructor(s) at the end of the course.
Accessibility Statement:
If you anticipate barriers related to the format or requirements of this course, if you
have emergency medical information to share with me, or if you need to make
arrangements in case the building must be evacuated, please let me know as soon as
possible.
If disability related accommodations are necessary (for example, a note taker, extended
time on exams, captioning), please register with the Office of Disability Services
(http://disabilityservices.missouri.edu), S5 Memorial Union, 882-4696, and then notify
me of your eligibility for reasonable accommodations. For other MU resources for
students with disabilities, click on "Disability Resources" on the MU homepage.
Academic Inquiry, Course Discussion and Privacy:
University of Missouri System Executive Order No. 38 lays out principles regarding the
sanctity of classroom discussions at the university. The policy is described fully in Section
200.015 of the Collected Rules and Regulations. In this class, students may not make
audio or video recordings of course activity, except students permitted to record as an
accommodation under Section 240.040 of the Collected Rules. All other students who
record and/or distribute audio or video recordings of class activity are subject to
discipline in accordance with provisions of Section 200.020 of the Collected Rules and
Regulations of the University of Missouri pertaining to student conduct matters.
Those students who are permitted to record are not permitted to redistribute audio or
video recordings of statements or comments from the course to individuals who are not
students in the course without the express permission of the faculty member and of any
students who are recorded. Students found to have violated this policy are subject to
discipline in accordance with provisions of Section 200.020 of the Collected Rules and
Regulations of the University of Missouri pertaining to student conduct matters.
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Course Topics and Schedule**:
Week
1
Lecture Topics
Course Introduction: review syllabus
Plant structure, tissue and cell types, cell parts
2
Tools for plant science: reviewing concepts in
chemistry (pH, organic compounds)
Water movement in plants
Pathway of water transport
3
4
Water potential
Transpiration
Stomatal mechanisms
5
EXAM 1
Mineral nutrition: elements, roles, uptake
Macronutrients
Micronutrients
Guest Lecture-Dr. David Mendoza
Guest Lecture-Dr. David Mendoza
Nitrogen fixation
Photosynthesis: light harvesting, chloroplasts
EXAM 2
Photosynthesis: light reactions
6
7
8
9
Lab
Review Lab Policy
Lab intro and planting of soybean at
greenhouse
Lab 1: Exploring stem, root, and leaf tissues;
Determination of plant tissue and solution pH
Lab 2: Plant water relations part 1- Exploring
the pathway of water through plants;
stomatal density and diversity; the power of
germinating seeds
Lab 3: Plant water relations part 2Determination of cellular water potential and
the role of solute potential in water
movement
Start Lab 4: Producing plant nutrient
deficiencies hydroponically
Finish Lab 4
LAB MIDTERM EXAM
Lab 5: Exploring nitrogen fixing root nodules
10
Photosynthesis: dark reactions
Differences of C3, C4 and CAM
Translocation: phloem anatomy, source to sink
Lab 6: Photosynthesis part 1 – Quantitative
determination of chlorophyll, and leaf
pigment separation
Lab 7: Photosynthesis part 2 – Starch
production in leaves
start “Fight to the Death:C3 vs C4”
11
SPRING BREAK - NO CLASS
NO LAB
12
Respiration, review photosynthesis
EXAM 3
Start Lab 8: Plant growth and development –
measuring root and shoot growth
13
Plant growth and development
Cell walls
14
Phytohormones: auxin, cytokinin, gibberellin,
abscisic acid, ethylene, etc
Light control of plant development
Flowering responses to light
Timelapse videos, review for final exam
Final Exam
Finish Lab 8
Start Lab 9: Bioassays for gibberellin and
cytokinin
Finish Lab 9 and other experiments
15
16
Final
LAB FINAL
NO LAB
**Course schedule is subject to change during the progression of the semester.
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