Plant Biology: Plants, Food, and Culture

Evaluation of the impact of plants on the aesthetic, cultural, social, medical, and religious lives of peoples of the world. Plant Biology and Biological Science majors will not receive credit for PBIO 1060 as part of program distribution requirements.

Online asynchronous

Plants, Food, and Culture introduces students to the fascinating world of plants and our human relationship with them. Module One begins with understanding basic plant biology, evolution, and diversity, which provides a foundation for the course. Module Two takes a deep dive into the evolution of human agriculture and the global changes that modern agriculture has incurred on our planet. Modules Three and Four explore human uses of plants for food and culture. Ultimately, the course provides you with a fundamental understanding of human civilization and our complex relationship with plants.

The online summer course is both self-paced and fast paced! Students must engage with the course material five days per week (Monday – Friday) to watch and comprehend all the recorded lectures and videos and complete all coursework. I highly recommend committing to a schedule to keep a suitable pace over the four-week course. Time management is key to understanding the materials and successfully completing the coursework. Each of the following four weekly modules will have assessments, as described in “Evaluation”: 1. Module One: Introduction to Plant Biology; June 16 – 20 2. Module Two: Topics in Agriculture; June 23 – 27 3. Module Three: Plants as Food Sources; June 30 – July 3 (July 4 is a holiday) 4. Module Four: Cultural Uses of Plants; July 7 – 11

Students will complete weekly online activities that count towards their final course grade, including the following: ACTIVE LEARNING QUIZZES (worth 10% of your final grade) Active learning quizzes are designed to help you stay engaged with the material presented in the recorded lectures and videos. These daily assessments will also keep a sustainable pace during the course. Active learning quizzes will accompany each recorded lecture, which you can complete on your own time. DISCUSSION BOARD (worth 30% of your final grade) Weekly discussion prompts help connect course content to real-world applications and encourage community building in our online class. Discussion prompts are available weekly starting on Monday morning and due no later than Friday at midnight. MODULE EXAMS (worth 60% of your final grade) There are four weekly module exams that synthesize the material covered in each module. Student must pass the exams to successfully complete the course with a passing grade.