11 776 382 Course Syllabus Plant Physiology 11 776 382 4 credits Spring Semester Monday lecture Wednesday lecture 2 00 PM 3 20 PM 126 Thursday laboratory 3 55 6 55 PM 194 Foran Hall Hickman Hall CONTACT INFORMATION Instructor Office Location Phone E mail Office Hours Dr Hector Rodolfo Juliani 396D Foran Hall 59 Dudley Rd New Brunswick NJ 08901 848 932 6240 hjuliani sebs rutgers edu by arrangement COURSE DESCRIPTION The goal of the course is for students to have a comprehensive understanding of how plants work Understanding structure and function relationships and interactions with the environment is a vital strategy for comprehending fundamental concepts of plant physiology The course introduction recap the evolutionary history of plants and plants as organisms The second section delved into understanding the importance of water and mineral nutrients for plant growth and development The photosynthesis section focuses on how plants get their energy through photosynthesis and respiration The growth and development section focuses on how plants complete their life cycles The laboratories main objective is to introduce plant physiology tools by running basic experiments formulating and testing hypotheses processing analyzing presenting results and preparing a research report COURSE WEBSITE RESOURCES AND MATERIALS Course website Canvas As per the COVID and weather related situation some lectures will be delivered online using Rutgers Canvas Learning Management System The classroom will be open 10 minutes before each class and available 10 minutes after the end of each class period The course will use open educational resources Teaching Tools in Plant Biology The Plant Cell Journal and American Society of Plant Biologists https academic oup com plcell pages teaching tools plant biology Introduction to Plant Physiology 3rd William G Hopkins recommended Supplemental textbooks as a reference not required Plant Physiology 2nd L Taitz and E Zeiger Plant Physiology 4th F Salisbury and Cleon W Ross PREREQUISITES 01 119 115 116 117 General Biology OR equivalent AND 11 776 242 Plant Science Recommended Organic Chemistry COURSE LEARNING GOALS Link to Plant Biology Undergraduate Program Goals http plantbiology rutgers edu undergrad plantbiology By the end of this course the student will be able to 1 Comprehend the fundamental concepts of plant physiology addresses program goal 1 technical proficiency 2 Describe the physiological mechanisms of plant growth function and development addresses program goals 1 and 2 technical proficiency and context 3 Recognize and describe how plants respond to their environment addresses program goal 2 context 4 Understand how to generate scientific knowledge by designing setting up experiments collecting processing data and making a written output resembling a research publication addresses program goals 3 and 4 communication and critical thinking 11 776 382 Course Syllabus ASSIGNMENTS RESPONSIBILITIES AND ASSESSMENT Grading Lecture First exam Second exam Third exam Laboratory Reports and presentations Attendance and class participation Total Percentage out of 100 20 20 25 25 10 100 Grades will be classified based on Rutgers approved system A B B C C D and F Lab reports and presentations There will be nine laboratories up to 4 hours weekly where students will design and set up a greenhouse experiment by subjecting plants to different environmental factors e g light minerals To foster learning and interaction among students the research project is done in small groups The experiments will run for 8 weeks with students taking measurements of plant growth and development weekly In addition students will learn plant physiology lab procedures to measure the dependent variables Students are required to install the R the open source statistical software for data analysis visualization and statistical analysis Students will learn about using R through demonstrations conducted during the labs and activities posted in Canvas The laboratories finish with the submission of a research report with the structure of a research publication The research report is worth 25 points Learning goals assessment Specific questions on exams and participation in class will be used to assess student knowledge of course learning goals including demonstrated mastery of fundamental terms and mechanisms in plant physiology In graded laboratory exercises students will communicate their understanding of techniques used in the discipline course learning goals 2 and 3 The percentage score on these assessments will determine the level of mastery 90 outstanding 80 89 good 70 70 satisfactory 69 unsatisfactory PARTICIPATION GRADE AND ABSENCE POLICY Attendance will be recorded There will be no make up for missed exams or labs Students unable to attend may contact the instructor via e mail before the missed class or may use the University absence reporting website https sims rutgers edu ssra to indicate the date and reason for the absence An e mail is automatically sent to the instructor 11 776 382 Course Syllabus COURSE TOPICS Lecture schedule Week 1 2 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 2 3 8 9 Topic Introduction Course overview Student introduction lab schedule and activities Why study plants Plants as Photosynthetic multicelluLAr aNd Terrestrial organismS Plant Water Relations Plant water Relations Uptake and transport Plant water Relations Water deficit Plant Nutrition Introduction to Plant Nutrition Macro and micronutrients Exam I Photosynthesis Photosynthesis overview Light pigments and plastids Photosynthetic light dependant reactions Photosynthesis Carbon Fixing reactions C3 C4 and CAM Plants Spring Break Growth and Development Growth and Development Carbon assimilation Introduction to Plant Hormones Exam II Auxins and cytokinins Giberellins and Absicic acid Ethylene and others Plant Movements Plants and their neighbors Class wrap up Exam III Topic and activities Research Methodology and Writing Setting up the experiment hypothesis dependent and independent variables Seeds growing media and germination Starting the experiment in the greenhouse Installation of R Studio and introduction to R statistical software scripts data processing and visualization Weekly measurements of dependent variables Plant physiology procedures chlorophyll and carotenoid amounts total proteins leaf area microscopy water content and water potential among others Data entry and processing using R examples of scripts data