Syllabus

Plants and Civilization - BOT. 300

Spring 2007

 

Instructor: Terry W. Henkel, Ph.D.

Office: Science Building B, Room 123

Telephone: 826-4841

Email: twh5@humboldt.edu

Office Hours: 1:30-3 Tues, 1:30-3 Thurs.

 

Meeting time and place: Tues/Thurs 11 am - 12:30 pm, Wildlife 258

                                                                                               

Introduction: Plants and Civilization covers the important plants and fungi utilized by human beings. Another title for this course could be Economic Botany, which indeed is the title of our textbook. Following introductory material on basic plant structure and the origins of agriculture, we will take a detailed look at plants and other organisms used for food, fiber, medicines, and psychoactives. The course material will appeal to a wide variety of students as it fulfills an upper division Area B GE requirement.

 

Format: Two lectures per week, three lecture examinations, individual student projects, textbook reading assignments, and outside reading assignments.

 

Required Textbook: Simpson, B.B, & Ogorzaly, M.C.. 2001. Economic Botany, 3rd Edition. McGraw Hill, Boston. 529 pp.

 

Blackboard: Regular use of Blackboard is REQUIRED of all students in BOT. 300 (http://blackboard.humboldt.edu). Lecture notes, powerpoint presentations, handouts, announcements, and other items will be available (sometimes exclusively) through blackboard.

 

 

Weekly Schedule for Botany 300, Spring 2007

 

Week	Date	Lecture
1	Jan 16	Plants and their manipulation by people
1	Jan 18	Plants and their manipulation by people (cont.)
2	Jan 23	Origins of agriculture
2	Jan 25	Origins of agriculture (cont.)
3	Jan 30	Fruits and nuts of temperate regions
3	Feb 1	Fruits and nuts of warm regions
4	Feb 6	Cereal grains and forage grasses
4	Feb 8	Cereal grains and forage grasses (cont.)
5	Feb 13	Cereal grains and forage grasses (cont.)
5	Feb 15	Examination #1
6	Feb 20	Legumes
6	Feb 22	Legumes (cont.)
7	Feb 27	Foods from leaves, stems, and roots
7	Mar 1	Foods from leaves, stems, and roots (cont.)
8	Mar 6	Foods from leaves, stems, and roots (cont.)
8	Mar 8	Spices, herbs, and perfumes
9	Mar 12-16	Spring break
10	Mar 20	Vegetable oils and waxes
10	Mar 22	Hydrogels, latexes and resins
11	Mar 27	Fibers
11	Mar 29	Examination #2
12	Apr 3	Stimulating beverages
12	Apr 5	Alcoholic beverages
13	Apr 10	Alcoholic beverages (cont.)
13	Apr 12	Fungi and human affairs
14	Apr 17	Fungi and human affairs (cont.)
14	Apr 19	Medicinal plants
15	Apr 24	Medicinal plants (cont.)
15	Apr 26	Psychoactive plants and poisons
16	May 1	Psychoactive plants and poisons (cont.)
16	May 3	Psychoactive plants and poisons (cont.)
		Final Examination

 

Point Distribution:

 

	Points
Lecture Examination #1	100
Lecture Examination #2	100
Final Lecture Examination	150
Total points =	350

 

Course Grades:

 

%	Grade	%	Grade
100-93	A	77.9-73	C
92.9-90	A-	72.9-70	C-
89.9-88	B+	69.9-68	D+
87.9-83	B	67.9-60	D
82.9-80	B-	59.9- 0	F
79.9-78	C+

Curve: Grades will be scaled at the end of the semester based on the highest score achieved in the class (i.e. the highest score will form the 100% mark).

 

Exam Format: Exam will contain a variety of types of questions dealing with material covered in lecture, reading assignments from the textbook, and any additional assigned outside readings. Questions may refer to material covered more thoroughly in the book than in lecture. Short and medium-length written answers, multiple-choice, true/false, matching, and other types of questions may be expected, as well as diagram labeling and interpretation.