The Plant Tree of Life: Evolution and Systematics

Catalog description

Prerequisite: prior course work in botany or ecology or permission of the instructor With more than 350,000 known species, plants form the foundations of ecosystems and are crucial to life on Earth. This course will examine the diversity, ecology, and evolutionary history of major land plant groups—bryophytes, ferns, lycophytes, gymnosperms, and angiosperms. Through lectures, discussion of scientific literature, and hands-on investigation of live and preserved material, students will learn how to decipher botanical terminology; identify major plant families using diagnostic characters and dichotomous keys; analyze evolutionary relationships and adaptations across plant lineages; and investigate plant interactions with fungi, bacteria, animals, and their environment. Courses offered in related disciplines this year are listed below. Full descriptions of the courses may be found under the appropriate disciplines. General Chemistry I (p. 36), Colin Abernethy Chemistry Toxic Elements and Deadly Molecules (p. 36), Colin Abernethy Chemistry Organic Chemistry I (p. 36), Mali Yin Chemistry Nutrition (p. 37), Mali Yin Chemistry General Chemistry II (p. 37), Colin Abernethy Chemistry Organic Chemistry II (p. 37), Mali Yin Chemistry Watersheds (p. 55), Bernice Rosenzweig Environmental Science Pollution (p. 55), Bernice Rosenzweig Environmental Science Feeling Medieval: Passion, Body, and Soul in the Middle Ages (p. 102), Joseph Romano Literature Calculus I: The Study of Motion and Change (p. 105), Daniel King Mathematics An Introduction to Statistical Methods and Analysis (p. 105), Daniel King Mathematics Calculus II: Further Study of Motion and Change (p. 106), Melvin Irizarry-Gelpi Mathematics Multivariable Mathematics: Linear Algebra, Vector Calculus, and Differential Equations (p. 106), Bruce Alphenaar Mathematics First-Year Studies: Women Philosophers in the 20th and 21st…