How do plants move? Growing from tiny seeds to giant trees, turning to face the sun, slowly reorienting in response to gravity, and rapidly ejecting spores, plants have developed diverse mechanisms for adjusting their bodies in physical space and in response to their environments. This program will explore the fascinating intersection of physics and botany by focusing on plants in motion. We will study plants in the lab and in the field to learn how the laws of physics constrain and enable their form and function and particularly their growth and motion. Topics will include plant growth and reproduction, tropism, transport, and conversion of energy from sunlight to sugar. Labs will involve both observation and experimentation, including the study of plant anatomy, photosynthesis, and water and nutrient transport.

We welcome students new to studying college level science, and will pay particular attention to developing foundational skills in quantitative and scientific reasoning. We will work to create a supportive learning community and to improve scientific literacy through interactive lectures, seminars, workshops, labs, and field trips. Regular assignments and assessments will include readings, homework sets, short papers, lab notebooks, and exams. Students will complete a quarter long group research project related to plant physics that will culminate in a popular science and/or science education demonstration at Evergreen’s Spring 2016 Science Carnival.

Students who successfully complete this program will have covered the equivalent of one quarter of introductory botany/plant biology with lab and topics in algebra-based physics with lab, and will be prepared for further introductory programs with significant science content such as Introduction to Environmental Studies, Introduction to Natural Science, and Matter and Motion.