BIOLOGY
460 ECONOMIC BOTANY Fall
2004
Life Science (South) room 270 Lecture: TTh 1-2 pm, Lab: Th 2-4:40 pm
Dr. Michael G. Simpson, Instructor
San Diego State University
(Revised 8/29/04)
|
Day |
Date |
|
Lecture Topic |
Laboratory |
|
T |
Aug. |
30 |
Introduction; plant morphology
& taxonomy |
|
|
Th |
Sept. |
2 |
Plant morphology & taxonomy |
Lab #1: Plant
morphology & taxonomy; keying; 10 spp. |
|
T |
|
7 |
Plant anatomy |
|
|
Th |
|
9 |
Plant anatomy & physiology |
Lab #2: Plant
anatomy |
|
T |
|
14 |
Vegetable plants; Botany of Desire: Potato |
|
|
Th |
|
16 |
Flowering plants |
Lab #3: Vegetables;
flowers; |
|
T |
|
21 |
Fruits and seeds |
|
|
Th |
|
23 |
Fruits and seeds; Botany of Desire: Apples |
Lab #4: Fruits
& seeds |
|
T |
|
28 |
Spices |
|
|
Th |
|
30 |
Herbs |
Lab #5: Spices
& Herbs; |
|
T |
Oct. |
5 |
Essential oils, fragrances,
perfumes |
|
|
Th |
|
7 |
Lab Pract. & Exam #1 (30 Aug. - 30 Sept.) |
|
|
Sa |
|
9 |
Sat. Fieldtrip: Quail Botanical Garden, 9 am - 12 noon |
|
|
T |
|
12 |
Genetics; plant breeding,
cultivars; Paper Topic Due! |
|
|
Th |
|
14 |
Genetic engineering; propagation; Botany of Desire: Tulips |
Library Research |
|
T |
|
19 |
Origin of agriculture; cereal
grains: wheat & barley |
|
|
Th |
|
21 |
Cereal grains: corn & rice; pseudocereals |
Lab #6: Grains
(Poaceae) |
|
T |
|
26 |
Alcoholic beverages; legumes;
forage crops |
|
|
Th |
|
28 |
Chocolate, tea, coffee; Bibliography Due! |
Lab #7: Beverage
plants; Legumes (Fabaceae) |
|
Sa |
|
30 |
Sat. Fieldtrip (date tentative): Brewery, 9am-12 noon |
|
|
T |
Nov. |
2 |
Wood anatomy; Rough Draft (3 copies) & Refs. Due! |
|
|
Th |
|
4 |
Wood & paper prod.;
deforestation |
Lab #8: Wood,
paper, fibers |
|
T |
|
9 |
Fiber plants; plant extracts |
|
|
Th |
|
11 |
Lab Practical #2 & Exam #2 (5 Oct-4 Nov) |
|
|
T |
|
16 |
Medicinal plants |
|
|
Th |
|
18 |
Marijuana; psychoact. pls.; Botany of Desire: Marijuana |
Movie; Lab #9: med., psycho. pl.; survey; fum.,mas. |
|
|
|
23 |
Open; Rough Drafts, Rubric Returned |
|
|
|
|
25 |
Thanksgiving Holiday |
|
|
|
|
30 |
Algae, Mosses, Ferns, Fungi |
|
|
|
Dec. |
2 |
Fumitories, masticatories |
Lab #10: Algae,
oomyc., mosses, lycop., equiset., fungi |
|
|
|
7 |
Oral Presentations |
|
|
|
|
9 |
Oral Presentations |
Oral Presentations |
Required book:
Pollan, M. 2001. The botany of desire: a plant's eye view of
the world. Random House, New York.
Recommended references:
Lewis, W. H., and M. P. F. Elvin-Lewis.
2003. Medical botany: plants
affecting human health. 2nd
edition. J. Wiley, Hoboken, N.J.
Simpson, B.B. & M. Conner-Ogorzaly.
2001. Economic Botany: Plants in
our World. McGraw-Hill.
Schery, R. W. 1972.
Plants for man, 2nd edition.
Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.
Grading:
iQuizzes 5%
In-Class
Quizzes 10%
Lecture
exam #1 15%
Lecture
exam #2 15%
Final
Exam 20%
Lab
Practical #1 10%
Lab
Practical #2 10%
Term
paper 15%
Total: 100%
Quizzes:
Several "iQuizzes" (open
book/note) will be given using the web software "Blackboard." Please register at: https://blackboard.sdsu.edu You will need to acquire an i.d. number and
a password. Follow the instructions on
Blackboard.
You will generally have a 2-day
period to take each of these iQuizzes.
In addition, in-class Quizzes (not open book/note) will be given
throughout the semester. The lowest
quiz score of the in-class Quizzes will be dropped. No makeups of quizzes or exams will be given without a medical
excuse.
Plant of the Week
There will be one species of plant
each week which you will be required to learn, both the scientific name, common
name, family, identifying characteristics, and economic importance. Information about these plants of the week
may be asked in quizzes or exams.
Fieldtrips:
There will be two required Saturday fieldtrips in the course.
Lab attendance, including fieldtrip(s) is
mandatory!
1 lab missed = 2 percentage
points subtracted from final grade
2 labs missed = 5 percentage
points subtracted from final grade
3 labs missed = 10 percentage points
subtracted from final grade
4 labs missed = failure of
course
Mini-Presentation
Term paper
A
written term paper is required of all students. A rough draft (in good shape) will be due several weeks prior to
the final draft of the term paper (see syllabus). A late or poorly prepared rough draft automatically reduces final
grade of term paper by 10%. The purpose
of the rough draft is to allow the students and me to make corrections and
suggestions on the format, content, and writing style of your paper. These corrections will not influence
your final grade; only the final paper will be graded. We will use a rubric to evaluate the quality
of your papers (to be discussed).
The term paper should be a
summary of a plant of economic value to humans, emphasizing the botany
(taxonomy, life history, morphology/anatomy) of the plant and discussing
economic and historical significance.
In some cases, for example the major cereal crops, the topic may need to
be limited in scope (e.g., "Corn" is too broad a topic; narrow it to,
e.g., "The early development of hybrid corn." Economic plants of limited use, for example
one of the species of spices, should be selected with caution, as enough
literature may not be available.
A non-exhaustive list of possible
plants is: APPLE (Malus pumila),
ARTICHOKE (Cynara scolymus), AVOCADO (Persea americana),
BANANA (Musa spp.), BARLEY (Hordeum vulgare), BEAN (Phaseolus
vulgaris), BREADFRUIT (Artocarpus altilis), CABBAGE (Brassica
oleracea), CAPSICUM PEPPER (Capsicum spp.), CASHEW (Anacardium
occidentale), CASSAVA (Manihot esculenta), COCOA (Theobroma
cacao), COCONUT (Cocos nucifera), COFFEE (Coffea arabica),
COTTON (Gossypium spp.), DATE (Phoenix dactylifera), Echinacea (Echinacea sp.), FIG (Ficus
carica), GINKGO BILOBA (Ginkgo biloba), GOLDENSEAL (Hydrastis
canadensis), GRAPE (Vitis spp.), MUSHROOMS, NUTMEG & MACE (Myristica
fragrans), OATS (Avena sativa), OLIVE (Olea europaea),
ONION (Allium cepa), ORANGE (Citrus aurantium),
PEANUT (Arachis hypogaea), PEACH (Prunus persica),
PEPPER (Piper nigrum), PINEAPPLE (Ananas comosus),
POMEGRANATE (Punica granatum), OPIUM POPPY (Papaver somniferum),
POTATO (Solanum tuberosum), RYE (Secale cereale),
SUGAR CANE (Saccharum officinarum), TARO (Calocasia antiquorum),
TEA (Thea sinensis), TOMATO (Lycopersicon esculentum),
TOBACCO (Nicotianum tabacum).
Some students may prefer a more
general topic, such as "The French Perfume Industry," "Plant
Aphrodisiacs," "Hallucinogenic plants/mushrooms," "Plants
Used by the Primitive Peoples of ... ," "The Scientific Basis for
Medicinal Uses of Goldenseal," or "The Use of Plants as
Dyes."
The paper should be typed [1.5
spaced (18pt); Times 12 font; 1" page margins], no longer than 8 pages
(not including Lit. Cited or figures).
All literature sources should be cited in the text (e.g., as
"(Smith, 1973)") and in a Literature
Citation section at the end of the paper.
Primary sources of information include books and the journal Economic
Botany (and references cited therein), but other journals such as medical
journals, National Geographic, and Natural History
may be used. In addition to what is in
the library, sources may be available from the instructor. (Web sources may be used to a minor degree,
but primary literature sources preferred; web sites must be properly cited,
such as "Simpson <http://www.sci.sdsu.edu/plants/tax/>."
Oral Presentation
An oral
presentation, using M.S. Powerpoint of
the research project will be required of all students on the last day of class
(following the lab practical). The oral
presentation is to last no longer than 10 minutes. Its purpose is simply to acquaint everyone in the class with the
interesting and pertinent discoveries you have made. This oral presentation will not be graded! However, any student not giving an oral
presentation will be penalized significantly for this part of the course
grade.
"I rank (botany) with the most valuable sciences,
whether we consider its subjects as furnishing the principal subsistence of
life to man and beast, delicious varieties for our tables, refreshments from
our orchards, the adornments of our flower-borders, shade and perfume of our
groves, materials for our buildings, or medicaments for our bodies."
--Thomas Jefferson
"Question: What advantages are to be derived from the
study of botany?
Answer: the study of this science as an
amusement is both healthful and pleasing, as it attracts us often into the
country, and makes us acquainted with the wonderful works of nature: it also enlarges the mind, by implanting new
and useful ideas, and fills it with the most exalted admiration of the great
Creator of the universe." From: Irving, C.
1829. A catechism of
botany. 3rd American ed. Collins and Hannay, New York. 82 pp.