PLANT SC 2510WT - Foundations in Plant Science II

Waite Campus - Semester 1 - 2017

This course provides an introduction to the structure and function of plants with a specific focus on plants of agricultural and horticultural importance, but may also include native species when appropriate. Attention will be given to how plants respond and adapt to their environment and the consequences of these interactions to productivity and quality. The link between an understanding of plant science and the management of plants will be highlighted.

  • General Course Information
    Course Details
    Course Code PLANT SC 2510WT
    Course Foundations in Plant Science II
    Coordinating Unit School of Agriculture, Food and Wine
    Term Semester 1
    Level Undergraduate
    Location/s Waite Campus
    Units 3
    Contact Up to 6 hours per week
    Available for Study Abroad and Exchange Y
    Prerequisites BIOLOGY 1101/1101ND or BIOLOGY 1202 or BIOLOGY 1401
    Incompatible ENV BIOL 2500
    Assessment Exam, reports, lab quiz & project work
    Course Staff

    Course Coordinator: Associate Professor Beth Loveys

    Lecturing and Support Staff

    Prof. Amanda Able
    Location: Room GN12, Waite Building
    Telephone: 8313 7245
    Email: amanda.able@adelaide.edu.au

    Prof. Matthew Gilliham
    Location: Room 2-30 Plant Research Centre
    Telephone: 8313 8145
    Email: matthew.gilliham@adelaide.edu.au

    Ms. Helen Brown
    Location: Charles Hawker Building G03
    Telephone: 8313 7305
    Email: helen.brown@adelaide.edu.au

    Course Timetable

    The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from Course Planner.

  • Learning Outcomes
    Course Learning Outcomes
    1 Describe the photosynthetic pathway and explain the role of environmental controls on photosynthetic rates
    2 Discuss the factors that determine water use efficiency
    3 Explain how plants acquire, transport and use mineral nutrients
    4 Describe and identify characteristics of important nutrient disorders
    5 Describe the life cycle of plants and of some of the important environmental controls of growth and development
    6 Demonstrate the role of plant hormones in growth and development
    7 Identify the basic anatomy of plants as it relates to the physiology of water and nutrient transport and photosnthesis
    8 Explain the physiological responses to mycorrhizal infection and rhizobium symbiosis
    9 Design and manage experimentation, develop and test an hypothesis and to analyse and present the data clearly
    University Graduate Attributes

    This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attribute(s) specified below:

    University Graduate Attribute Course Learning Outcome(s)
    Deep discipline knowledge
    • informed and infused by cutting edge research, scaffolded throughout their program of studies
    • acquired from personal interaction with research active educators, from year 1
    • accredited or validated against national or international standards (for relevant programs)
    1-8
    Critical thinking and problem solving
    • steeped in research methods and rigor
    • based on empirical evidence and the scientific approach to knowledge development
    • demonstrated through appropriate and relevant assessment
    9
    Teamwork and communication skills
    • developed from, with, and via the SGDE
    • honed through assessment and practice throughout the program of studies
    • encouraged and valued in all aspects of learning
    9
    Career and leadership readiness
    • technology savvy
    • professional and, where relevant, fully accredited
    • forward thinking and well informed
    • tested and validated by work based experiences
    NA
    Intercultural and ethical competency
    • adept at operating in other cultures
    • comfortable with different nationalities and social contexts
    • able to determine and contribute to desirable social outcomes
    • demonstrated by study abroad or with an understanding of indigenous knowledges
    NA
    Self-awareness and emotional intelligence
    • a capacity for self-reflection and a willingness to engage in self-appraisal
    • open to objective and constructive feedback from supervisors and peers
    • able to negotiate difficult social situations, defuse conflict and engage positively in purposeful debate
    9
  • Learning Resources
    Required Resources
    There is no single textbook that is used for the course but the ones listed below are useful reference books:

    Taiz L, Zeiger E (2010) Plant physiology. (Sinauer Associates Inc.: Sunderland, Massachusetts).  [additional on-line material is found at http://5e.plantphys.net]

    Atwell B Kriedemann P, Turnbull C (1999) Plant in Action: Adaptation in Nature; Performance in Cultivation (MacMillan Education Australia: Melbourne) [available online at: http://plantsinaction.science.uq.edu.au/edition1/]

    Lambers H, Pons TL, Chapin FS (2008). Plant Physiological Ecology (Springer: New York) [available as an e-book through the library catalogue]

    Marschner H (1995) (2nd edition) Mineral nutrition of plants. Academic Press; London.

    A useful website on abiotic stress (salt, drought, heat, frost, mineral nutrient stress) is:  Plant stress: www.plantstress.com

    You may also find the following website useful for preliminary information on some aspects of plant science: http://www.plantcell.org/teachingtools/teaching.dtl

    A useful iPad App that will help you to study for the plant anatomy pracs is ‘Plant Histology’ ($4.99 from iTunes).

    Communication and report writing

    Cargill M and Bellotti M (2004) Written Communication in the Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences, The University of Adelaide. http://www.agwine.adelaide.edu.au/students/external/carwripg1.pdf

    Visit http://www.usyd.edu.au/learningcentre/wrise/ to see how to write reports
    Online Learning
    Foundations in Plant Sciences uses MyUni as the primary route of commumication with students. Announcements will be posted to alert students of any changes to course timetable and information about assessment items. TURNITIN is also used for the submission of assignments.

    Online tests within MyUni are also used to assess students knowledge after practical classes.

    Articulate Storyline activities are used for pre-practical engagement. These can be accessed via the My Uni course.
  • Learning & Teaching Activities
    Learning & Teaching Modes
    The course is delivered using lectures, practials and tutorials.

    Lectures: 2 hours per week for 12 weeks

    Practicals: 2 hours per week for 9 weeks

    Tutorials: 2 hour per week for 12 weeks

    A Small Group Discovery Experience (SGDE) is also provided for our students. The students will undertake an independent group research project guided by an academic mentor. Both tutorial and practical time slots are used for the SGDE.
    Workload

    The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

    The contact time for Foundations in Plant Science is 6 hours per week. It is expected that a student will spend a further 6 hours outside of this contact time preparing for the next weeks classes, revising the previous weeks material and preparing reports for assessment.
    Learning Activities Summary
    The course is made up of lectures, tutorials (face-to-face and online), practicals and a small group discovery experience in the form of a research project.

    Tutorials prepare students for project work and develop research skills.

    The four set practicals through the semester give students the opportunity to learn new laboratory skills and gain exposure to the types of measurements commonly performed in plant science research. The skills learnt in the set practicals can then be used by the students in their research projects.

    Students gain experience in presenting their work in the form of reports, laboratory note books and oral presentation.

    Small Group Discovery Experience
    The Small Group Discovery Experience in Foundation in Plant Science takes the form of a group research project. Groups of 5-6 students are asked to select a research area from a variety of options. The project topics vary from year to year depending on the availablity and research areas of staff involved. Topics offered may be:

    Plant hormones, growth and development
    Drought
    Phosphorus nutrition
    Salinty
    Legume nitrogen fixation
    Water logging tolerance
    Extreme soil pH and aluminium toxicity

    Students work together with a mentor to design a novel research question. They are then given time to develop an experimental design to help answer their research question. Feedback from their mentor will help to refine their experimenal plan and design. The students are provided with plant material and equiment to undertake their experiment over a four week period. At the conclusion of their experiment the students must analyse their data and present it to the rest of class by way of a seminar.
  • Assessment

    The University's policy on Assessment for Coursework Programs is based on the following four principles:

    1. Assessment must encourage and reinforce learning.
    2. Assessment must enable robust and fair judgements about student performance.
    3. Assessment practices must be fair and equitable to students and give them the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.
    4. Assessment must maintain academic standards.

    Assessment Summary
    Assessment Task Task Type Due Weighting Learning Outcome
    Practical report on potassium uptake mechanisms Formative and Summative

    week 8

    15% 3
    Practical exams Formative and Summative throughout semester 15% 1,2,3,7
    Laboratory notebook Formative and Summative week 12 5% 1,2,3,7,9
    Group research project Formative and Summative throughout semester 20% 9
    Final examination Summative TBA 45% 1-8
    Assessment Detail
    Assessment Task Task Type Due Weighting
    Practical report on potassium uptake mechanisms Formative and Summative

    week 8

    15%
    Practical exams Formative and Summative throughout semester 15%
    Laboratory notebook Formative and Summative week 12 5%
    Group research project Formative and Summative throughout semester 20%
    Final examination Summative TBA 45%
    Submission
    Practical reports will be submitted via Turnitin through MyUni.
    Course Grading

    Grades for your performance in this course will be awarded in accordance with the following scheme:

    M10 (Coursework Mark Scheme)
    Grade Mark Description
    FNS   Fail No Submission
    F 1-49 Fail
    P 50-64 Pass
    C 65-74 Credit
    D 75-84 Distinction
    HD 85-100 High Distinction
    CN   Continuing
    NFE   No Formal Examination
    RP   Result Pending

    Further details of the grades/results can be obtained from Examinations.

    Grade Descriptors are available which provide a general guide to the standard of work that is expected at each grade level. More information at Assessment for Coursework Programs.

    Final results for this course will be made available through Access Adelaide.

  • Student Feedback

    The University places a high priority on approaches to learning and teaching that enhance the student experience. Feedback is sought from students in a variety of ways including on-going engagement with staff, the use of online discussion boards and the use of Student Experience of Learning and Teaching (SELT) surveys as well as GOS surveys and Program reviews.

    SELTs are an important source of information to inform individual teaching practice, decisions about teaching duties, and course and program curriculum design. They enable the University to assess how effectively its learning environments and teaching practices facilitate student engagement and learning outcomes. Under the current SELT Policy (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/101/) course SELTs are mandated and must be conducted at the conclusion of each term/semester/trimester for every course offering. Feedback on issues raised through course SELT surveys is made available to enrolled students through various resources (e.g. MyUni). In addition aggregated course SELT data is available.

  • Student Support
  • Policies & Guidelines
  • Fraud Awareness

    Students are reminded that in order to maintain the academic integrity of all programs and courses, the university has a zero-tolerance approach to students offering money or significant value goods or services to any staff member who is involved in their teaching or assessment. Students offering lecturers or tutors or professional staff anything more than a small token of appreciation is totally unacceptable, in any circumstances. Staff members are obliged to report all such incidents to their supervisor/manager, who will refer them for action under the university's student’s disciplinary procedures.

The University of Adelaide is committed to regular reviews of the courses and programs it offers to students. The University of Adelaide therefore reserves the right to discontinue or vary programs and courses without notice. Please read the important information contained in the disclaimer.