AGECO 121Plant Stress: It's Not Easy Being Green

3 credits · Agroecology · Penn State

This course is an introduction to plant biology with a strong emphasis on plant "stress" biology - how plants deal with the many hazards that they face, including diseases, insects, the weather, and animals. The course covers major aspects of plant biology and physiology, including photosynthesis, light perception, sense of touch, hormones, secondary metabolism, growth, development, and structure. The course also covers how plants obtain food and water, see their neighbors, communicate with each other, reproduce, compete with each other, consume insects, and even move around - all without muscles, eyes, or brains. The course relates all of these topics to plant stress coping mechanisms and to human needs and desires. Course activities include lectures, class discussions, in-class written assignments, guest lectures, an outdoor walk to observe plants on campus, and movies. This General Education (GN) course is designed to be accessible to non-science majors.