Field and Laboratory Instruments to Analyze Plant Perform- ance and Environmental Factors and to Facilitate Quantitat- ive Conceptualization

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This project will incorporate physiological instruments, data acquisition systems, and simulation modeling software in courses which emphasize whole plant physiology and environmental biology. Analytical capabilities will be enhanced at the advanced levels and in introductory courses. Exercises will emphasize student directed experiments and will focus on complex phenomena where experiments will be guided by simulation models and theory. Students will interface data acquisition systems and Macintosh computers with thermocouples, light sensors, hygrometers, and CO2 analyzers as they explore the mechanistic controls of photosynthesis and obtain calculated results on line. A plant stress meter will assist students to understand the photochemical reactions of photosynthesis and monitor photosynthetic capabilities under a variety of conditions. These complex but realistic exercises will be interpreted and presented by teams of students. Ecological studies will be helped by addition of a plant canopy analyzer, a porometer, a water potential system and a Hydrolab Surveyor 3. Small group interactions will be fostered.