This is our catalog of courses. We will occasionally adjust the course listing to reflect the addition of new courses and the retirement of others.
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.
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.
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 parents.
Course Outline
Class 1: Introduction to the science of Botany
Class 2: Plant cells—a close look
Class 3: Plant parts
Class 4: The leaf
Class 5: The root
Class 6: The stem
Class 7: The flower
Class 8: Pollination and pollinators
Class 9: Seeds
Class 10: Fruit
Class 11: Pests
Class 12: Evergreens and student presentations
Class 13: Carnivorous plants and student presentations
Materials and Homework
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 parent during the last day of the semester.
