FENG CHIA UNIVERSITY
Plant and Society
GNAEE17, (May 11, 2020 – June 12, 2020)
Lecturer: TBA
E-mail: TBA
Time: Monday through Friday
Contact hours: 60 (50 minutes each)
Credits: 4
Office hours: 2 hours (according to the teaching schedule)
Course Description
The course is divided into two sections, the first section introduces the importance of
plants to society with a focus on the domestication of wild plants for use in agriculture.
The characteristics of three groups of plants will be highlighted in this section –
cultivated species, invasive species and rare and endangered species.
The second section will introduce the basic characteristics of plants, such as plant
cells, tissues, and organs such as roots, stems and leaves. A special emphasis will be
given to reproductive organs, where the typical construction of male and female cones
in conifers (gymnosperms) will be contrasted with the flowers of flowering plants
(angiosperms).
Required Textbook
No textbook required.
Course Hours
The course has 25 sessions in total. Each class session is 120 minutes in length. The
course meets from Monday to Friday.
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GNAEE17, Plant and Society
Course Schedule
Week 1

Evolution and genetics

Plant reproductive diversity

Origins of agriculture

Domestication of crop plants

Genetically modified crops
Week 2

Plant invasions 1

Plant invasions 2

Biodiversity and extinction

Conservation biology

Mid Term Exam
Week 3

On being a plant

Photosynthesis: converting physical to biological

A wet world: "algae"

Covering the land: early land plants and their descendants

Protecting the next generation: origin of seeds, cones and fruits
Week 4

Having flowers means accommodating pollinators

Fruits and seeds: the underpinnings of our diet

So you think you know what a leaf is

Plant defense strategies: what we make of them

How and why to be a tree
Week 5
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GNAEE17, Plant and Society
Do names matter?
Review
Final Exam
Grading Policy
Your final grade is based on the following components:
In-class participation (attendance, etc) 5%
Homework Assignments (5)
20%
Quizzes (%)
15%
Mid Term Exam
30%
Final Exam
30%
Total
100%
Grading Scale
Grading System of FCU:
Letter Grade
Score
A
80-100
B
70-79
C
60-69
D
50-59
E
Below 50
ALL in-class quizzes, assignments, mid-term test, and final examination are
INDIVIDUAL effort, meaning that you should work on your own material and any
unscholarly actions prohibited by the university must be avoided. The mid-term test
and final examination might consist of true or false, multiple choice, and/or short
answer questions. The exact date, time, and place of the mid-term test and final
examination will be announced during the term. In order to pass this course, both the
course work and examination marks must be at least 60% each, and the overall
module mark must be at least 60%.
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GNAEE17, Plant and Society
Academic Honesty
Feng Chia University defines academic misconduct as any act by a student that
misrepresents the student’s own academic work or that compromises the academic
work of another. Scholastic misconduct includes (but is not limited to) cheating on
assignments or examinations; plagiarizing, i.e., misrepresenting as one’s own work
any work done by another; submitting the same paper, or a substantially similar paper,
to meet the requirements of more than one course without the approval and consent of
the instructors concerned; or sabotaging another’s work within these general
definitions. Instructors, however, determine what constitutes academic misconduct in
the courses they teach. Students found guilty of academic misconduct in any portion
of the academic work face penalties that range from the lowering of their course grade
to awarding a grade of E for the entire course.
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