PP123/Bot 123 Course Schedule: Lectures, Readings, Labs
Fall 2011, University of Wisconsin - Madison
Unit I: Plants, Microbes, Pathogens, Disease Control and Food
Date
Sept 7
(W)
Lecture Topic
Biology and Your Survival
Readings
Eating Fossil Fuels - Chapter 1
Agrios, "Potato blight . . ."
Sept 12
(M)
Scientific Findings: How are
they made? How much weight
do they carry?
Essential Biology pp. 3-20 (Chapter 1)
Sept 14
(W)
I. Cells - The primary unit of
life.
Essential Biology pp. 52 (molecules of life), 5859 (cell contents, +Fig. 4.3 cell sizes), 299-305
(bacteria), 328-332 (fungi), 188-191 (viruses)
II. Microbial Life
Sept 19
(M)
Sun Worship (or: Thank you,
plants!)
HumansMoreBacterialCellsThanHuman
Read first: Angier, "Green, Life-Giving . . ."
Essential Biology
Photosynthesis: pp. 92-93, 107-118.
Plant adaptations/origins: pp. 316-319.
Plant body plan: pp. 621-622 (after quickly
browsing through pp. 606-621)
Sept 21
(W)
Beneficial and Detrimental
Plant-Microbe Interactions:
Do microbes feed humans? or
starve us?
Plant Genes and Crop Biotechnology pp. 390402
Sept 26
(M)
Eating Fossil Fuels
Eating Fossil Fuels
Sept 28
(W)
Plant Diseases and the Plant
Immune System
Plant Genes and Crop Biotechnology pp. 402412
Oct 3
(M)
Pesticides, Integrated Pest
Management and Agriculture
Berenbaum “If Malaria’s the problem…”
Essential Biology pp. 314-316, 626-629
Gordon, "A recipe for success"
Essential Biology pp. 416
Oct 5
(W)
Behavior Modifiers: Major
impacts of specific plants on
commerce, immigration, war,
society
Oct 10
(M)
FIRST EXAM (in class; covers
Unit I)
Unit II: Evolution, Breeding and Genetic Engineering
Date
Lecture Topic
Readings
Oct 12
(W)
Evolution and Natural
Selection
Essential Biology pp. 241-267.
Oct 17
(M)
I. Evolution and Natural
Selection (continued)
Essential Biology pp. 269-285.
Essential Biology pp. 293-298, 307, 311, 338-339.
II. History of Life
Oct 19
(W)
Evolution pushing at us - The
limited usable lifespan for
Pesticides, Antibiotics and
Plant Disease Resistance
Genes
Essential Biology pp. 71, 243, 253.
Plant Breeding: The amazing
fruits of human-guided
evolution
10,000 Years of Crop Selection
Oct 26
(W)
DNA and the molecular basis
of heredity
Essential Biology pp. 174-178
Oct 31
(M)
DNA-RNA-Protein;
Regulation of Gene
Expression
Essential Biology pp. 179-187; 195-196; 200-207.
Nov 2
(W)
Plant Biotechnology: Virus
Resistance
Ringspot Resistant Papaya
Oct 24
(M)
Why Files
Essential Biology p. 605
Essential Biology pp. 219-223, 235-237
Nov 7 (M)
Plant Biotechnology for
reduced use of pesticides,
Bacterial Arsenal to Combat Chewing Insects
and…
Golden Rice
Perspectives on Transgenics
Nov 9
(W)
SECOND EXAM (in class; on
Unit II)
Unit III: Ecosystems: Food Security, Ecology and Human Goals
Date
Lecture Topic
Readings
Nov 14
(M)
Ecology Concepts
Essential Biology: study pp. 371-379 and 403411. (skim pp. 380-390)
Nov 16
(W)
I. Using Ecology Concepts
II. Human Population
Growth
Essential Biology pp. 412-416; 417-421
Nov 21
(M)
Can Plants Support all the
People?
Feeding a Hungry World
Essential Biology pp. 437-439 (see also p. 474475, 485-486, 491)
Nov 23
(W)
Cycles: Carbon, Nitrogen,
Phosphorous, Water (and
their major impacts on
humanity)
Essential Biology pp. 391, 440-443
Nov 28
(M)
Human Impacts on the
Environment
Essential Biology pp. 392-398; 444-449;
Nov 30
(W)
Biofuels: Economic and
Ecological Challenges
How Green are Biofuels?
Dec 5 (M)
Science as a Source of Ethics
Tragedy of the Commons
Dec 7 (W)
Land/Resource/Environment
Ethics
Sand County Almanac
Dec 12
(M)
Wisconsin: Where did it come
from? Where is it going?
Online Readings
Dec 14
(W)
Ecology and Human Society
(what will things be like in 50
years?)
Summary of Jared Diamond's book "Collapse"
(read Synopsis)
Essential Biology pp.448
Exam III: Sunday Dec 19; 12:25pm (During Final Exam Period)