Botany: Plants and People

Description

Our focus in this program will be on developing an understanding of both natural and cultural dimensions of plants. We will work through a botany textbook learning about plant anatomy, morphology, systematics, and ecology. Lectures based on the textbook readings will be supplemented with laboratory work. We will explore how present form and function informs us about the evolution of various groups of plants. Students will get hands-on experience studying plants under microscopes and in the field. Students will also learn basic plant identification of common species. To support their work in the field, students will learn how to maintain a detailed and illustrated field journal.

Seminar readings will be on the general theme of plants and people. In fall we will celebrate the 90th anniversary of national suffrage for American women and the 100th anniversary of women's right to vote in the state of Washington, by exploring women and their relationships with plants. We will explore the cultural history of American women's use of plants for medicine making, food, and aesthetic purposes. We will examine women's contributions to horticulture, botany, environmental activism, and biodiversity preservation. Students will learn how to identify and grow herbs through service learning in the Medicinal Herb Garden at the Organic Farm. Through a series of workshops, students will learn traditional medicine making practices. A significant amount of time in this program will be dedicated to honing our ability to write an expository paper.

In winter students will also learn library research methods, which they will apply to a research project of their choosing related to plants and people. Time will be spent helping students improve their ability to write a research paper that is thesis-driven and supported with evidence from the scientific literature.