Module BIOL2401: PLANT PHYSIOLOGY

Department: Biological and Biomedical Sciences

BIOL2401: PLANT PHYSIOLOGY

Prerequisites

• Genetics.

Corequisites

• At least one other Level 2 Biology module.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• To provide an understanding of how plants regulate their growth and development.
• To provide students with an integrated knowledge and understanding of plant responses and structural plus physiological adaptations to the environment at the morphological, whole organ, molecular physiological and molecular genetic levels.
• To demonstrate how plants exist in a range of extreme environments.
• To provide a knowledge and understanding of relevant molecular and physiological techniques that allow elucidation of such plant responses to their growing environment.
• To demonstrate how selective modification of plants and their parts can be used for economic gain.

Content

• The struggle for Survival: Evolution of different growth forms in competition for resources (water, light, nutrients), and in response to supra- and sub-optimal resource availability.
• How plants sense light and its significance.
• Plant hormones.
• Plant physiological, cellular and molecular adaptations for growth and survival in a range of environments; oxidative stress.
• Acquisition and retention of water, including xylem transport.
• Mineral nutrition.
• Translocation in the phloem.
• Plant secondary compounds: their role in defence.
• Life at the extremes: heat, cold, freezing.

Learning Outcomes

• Demonstrate knowledge of the fundamentals of plant water relations, mineral nutrition, integration of carbon and nutrients in growth and development.
• Describe in detail plant morphological and physiological responses and adaptations to variations in selected environmental variables, including those of extreme environments.
• Gain experience in key practical skills in data generation (e.g. measurement of photosynthesis, microscopy) and key interpretive skills (data handling, manipulation and interpretation).
• Work as a member of a team in organisation of experimental work and data gathering/handling.
• Produce clear and concise scientific assessments of experimental work undertaken.

• Collation of subject knowledge into coherent whole in addressing plant responses to the environment.
• Awareness of the importance of integration of understanding and knowledge across a range of scales and levels (molecular, cellular, physiological and morphological/functional) to understand the key issues related to plant growth and survival.
• Record, analyse critically and draw conclusions from experimental data and relate these back to theoretical concepts.
• Conduct relevant experiments to address key questions regarding plant growth and survival.

• Subject-specific knowledge: Subject-specific practical skills in plant physiology.
• Intellectual skills. Ability to obtain and integrate several lines of subject-specific knowledge to formulate and test hypotheses. Ability to apply subject knowledge and understanding to address familiar and unfamiliar problems.
• Obtaining, recording, collating and analysing data.
• Numeracy, computing and IT skills. Processing, interpreting and presenting data, using appropriate statistical analysis.
• Interpersonal and teamwork skills. Recognising and respecting the views of other team members.
• Self management and professional development skills. Developing skills necessary for self-managed and lifelong learning (working independently, time management, organisation).

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Lectures deliver core and specialised knowledge.
• Tutorials, Seminars and Workshops reinforce the knowledge and understanding gained from lectures and the development of key and subject-specific skills.
• Field Work, Practicals and Laboratory Work allow students to utilise the knowledge gained from lectures, and support the development of key and subject-specific skills.
• MCQs sample core and specialised knowledge.
• Essays assess key communication skills but are also used to examine a students learning of subject specific knowledge.
• Unseen examinations measure knowledge and the application and interpretation of that knowledge. They also test key skills in ability to present arguments and communicate them effectively in a concise written form.
• Data Handling Exercises assess data handling, numeracy, critical thinking and presentation skills.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

MCQ test.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University