Plant Biology Laboratories and Curriculum that Integrate the Biological Levels of Organization

生物科学(61)华盛顿和李大学生物系正在扩充和更新其植物科学课程。目前，该系提供三门与植物科学有关的课程，材料主要限于分类学和分类学。光合作用的概述在普通生物学和高等植物学课程中都有介绍。这个项目的主要目标是修改普通生物学实验室课程的植物部分，该课程使用功能强大但过时的设备，并引入两门新的植物生物学课程。另一个目标是在生物学层次的组织中整合课程中的概念，并确定对学生理解这种整合的重要性。以植物为“模式系统”，将弥合分子生物学、生物化学、细胞生物学、生理学和生物生物学之间的鸿沟。通过将格林内尔学院(ILI#9850544)和康涅狄格大学(ILI#9796271)以前实施的模式改编成一系列课程：普通生物学、一门新的植物生物学课程和一门新的高级实验植物生物学课程，正在实现这些目标。利用生物组织各个层次的标准方法，提供接触各种技术(从分子到生物)的机会，这些技术丰富了具有不同职业规划的生物学学生群体对植物生物学的理解。正在购买的设备(6个植物生理学工作站、两个生长室、迷你SDS-PAGE/WESTERN传输设备、便携式光合作用系统和便携式叶绿素荧光系统)使学生能够在实验室和野外获得生物、生理和生化数据，并将成功地整合生物组织水平。

Biological Sciences (61)The Department of Biology at Washington and Lee University is expanding and updating its course curriculum in the plant sciences. Currently, the department offers three courses related to the plant sciences and the material is limited primarily to taxonomy and systematics. A general review of photosynthesis is presented in General Biology as well as in an upper division botany course. The primary goal of this project is to modify the plant portion of the General Biology laboratory course, which uses functional but outdated equipment, and to introduce two new courses in plant biology. An additional goal is to integrate concepts within courses across biological levels of organization and to establish the importance to students of understanding that integration. Utilizing plants as the "model system," gaps between molecular biology, biochemistry, cellular biology, physiology, and organismal biology will be bridged. These goals are being met by adapting previously implemented models from Grinnell College (ILI # 9850544) and the University of Connecticut (ILI #9796271) into a series of courses: general biology, a new plant biology course and into and a new upper level experimental plant biology course. Standard methods from all levels of biological organization are being utilized, providing exposure to a variety of techniques (from molecular to organismal) that enrich the understanding of plant biology for a population of biology students with diverse career plans. The equipment being acquired (6 plant physiology workstations, two growth chambers, mini SDS-PAGE/Western transfer equipment, a portable photosynthesis system, and a portable chlorophyll fluorescence system) enable students to obtain organismal, physiological and biochemical data in the lab, as well as in the field, and will successfully integrate biological levels of organization.