Course Syllabus

Summer 2024 | BIO-1220-VO01 - Botany

Online Class

Online courses take place 100% online via Canvas, without required in-person or Zoom meetings.

Faculty

Kathryn Carvey
View Faculty Credentials
View Faculty Statement
Hiring Coordinator for this course: Ryan Joy

General Education Requirements

VSCS Natural Science

Note

Many degree programs have specific general education recommendations. In order to avoid taking unnecessary classes, please consult with additional resources like your program evaluation, your academic program catalog year page, and your academic advisor.

Courses may only be used to meet one General Education Requirement.

Course Description

This course provides students with an understanding of the fundamentals of plant growth and development. Higher plant structure, metabolism, growth regulators, and mineral nutrition are emphasized. Students also become acquainted with the diversity of plants and plant-like organisms through study of bacteria, viruses, algae, fungi, mosses, and lower vascular plants.

Essential Objectives

1. Define and apply the terms essential to the study of botany.
2. Summarize the development of the science of botany, and evaluate the ways botany relates to issues confronting humanity.
3. Summarize the principles of plant classification and identification in the lower and plant kingdoms.
4. Explain the structure and function of plants’ cells, tissues, and systems.
5. Summarize plant nutrition, metabolism and photosynthesis.
6. Explain plant reproduction and genetics.
7. Explain the evolution of plants, their place in an ecosystem, and plants’ adaptation to environments.
8. Demonstrate proficiency in understanding, interpreting, evaluating and applying quantitative data and information.
9. Explain how knowledge created in the natural sciences has contributed to the creation, maintenance and dismantling of social inequalities and discuss the impacts of diversity and inclusion on scientific research and practice.
Lab Objectives:
1. Apply knowledge of the scientific method to:
a. formulate and evaluate real-world scientific questions;
b. ethically plan and implement accurate data collection;
c. analyze and evaluate data;
d. generate conclusions based on analysis and justify claims with evidence;
e. integrate the related work of other scientists; and
f. propose ideas for further inquiry.
2. Communicate findings in a format appropriate to the discipline and type of investigation, such as a laboratory notebook, laboratory report, observational study, field investigation report, poster, or presentation using appropriate evidence to support these findings.
3. Understand the structure and purpose of peer-reviewed publications.
4. Evaluate scientific information for validity, accuracy, reliability, and methodology.
5. Identify and follow lab safety techniques that are aligned with CCV’s Chemical Hygiene Plan, Lab Safety Agreements, and chemical Safety Data Sheets (SDS).

Required Technology

More information on general computer and internet recommendations is available on the CCV IT Support page. https://support.ccv.edu/general/computer-recommendations/

Please see CCV's Digital Equity Statement (pg. 45) to learn more about CCV's commitment to supporting all students access the technology they need to successfully finish their courses.

Required Textbooks and Resources

This course uses one or more textbooks/books/simulations.

Summer 2024 textbook details will be available on 2023-11-06. On that date a link will be available below that will take you to eCampus, CCV's bookstore. The information provided there will be specific to this class. Please see this page for more information regarding the purchase of textbooks/books.

BIO-1220-VO01 Link to Textbooks for this course in eCampus.

The last day to use a Financial Aid Advance to purchase textbooks/books is the 3rd Tuesday of the semester. See your financial aid counselor at your academic center if you have any questions.

Methods

Greetings Botanists,

We are going to give the too-often-ignored plant kingdom its fair share of attention; you'll soon start noticing a lot more of what is going on around you in your environment. We will use a catalogue of online microscopic images to look inside plants, a key to look at the outside of plants, and readings and films to discover what plants contribute to our natural world.

Students will have assigned reading each week: a combination from the lab manual, the book and instructor provided material, frequently supplemented with short videos. For labs, we'll use the lab manual and Tree Finder key. There will be a weekly discussion question for group participation. Quizzes will be in small bites so there will be some type of short quiz over each week's course material with the aim of encouraging you to apply what you've learned to the world around you.

Grading Criteria

CCV Letter Grades as outlined in the Evaluation System Policy are assigned according to the following chart:

	High	Low
A+	100	98
A	Less than 98	93
A-	Less than 93	90
B+	Less than 90	88
B	Less than 88	83
B-	Less than 83	80
C+	Less than 80	78
C	Less than 78	73
C-	Less than 73	70
D+	Less than 70	68
D	Less than 68	63
D-	Less than 63	60
F	Less than 60
P	100	60
NP	Less than 60	0

Weekly Schedule

Attendance Policy

Regular attendance and participation in classes are essential for success in and are completion requirements for courses at CCV. A student's failure to meet attendance requirements as specified in course descriptions will normally result in a non-satisfactory grade.

• In general, missing more than 20% of a course due to absences, lateness or early departures may jeopardize a student's ability to earn a satisfactory final grade.
• Attending an on-ground or synchronous course means a student appeared in the live classroom for at least a meaningful portion of a given class meeting. Attending an online course means a student posted a discussion forum response, completed a quiz or attempted some other academically required activity. Simply viewing a course item or module does not count as attendance.
• Meeting the minimum attendance requirement for a course does not mean a student has satisfied the academic requirements for participation, which require students to go above and beyond simply attending a portion of the class. Faculty members will individually determine what constitutes participation in each course they teach and explain in their course descriptions how participation factors into a student's final grade.

Participation Expectations

Your responses in weekly discussions will serve both as attendance markers and toward participation points. Each week a discussion topic is posted. To be on time, students must make an initial response by Friday of that week.

Missing & Late Work Policy

Since this course builds week by week on the material covered, it is very important for students to stay current on assignments. To encourage this, missing assignments will receive a zero. Make-up or time extensions are not available.

Accessibility Services for Students with Disabilities:

1. Provide disability documentation to the Accessibility Coordinator at your academic center. https://ccv.edu/discover-resources/students-with-disabilities/
2. Request an appointment to meet with accessibility coordinator to discuss your request and create an accommodation plan.
3. Once created, students will share the accommodation plan with faculty. Please note, faculty cannot make disability accommodations outside of this process.

Academic Integrity