1.  Sept. 8/9

Safety, Lab. Basics, Chemical Calculations.

Expt. 1.  Making chemical solutions

Planting seeds (by T.As)

2. Sept. 15/16

Expt. 2.  Learning to be quantitative:  Estimating protein levels in seed and seedlings (sprouts)

Construction of a standard curve.

Use of the spectrophotometer

3.  Sept. 22/23

Results due

Expt. 3.  Importance and behaviour of water: 

Determination of water potential and its effect on water movement

4.  Sept 29/30

* Report due

Expt. 4. Water potential and the pathways of water transport

A. Determination of xylem water potential

B. Know the structure of root, stem and leaf

5.  Oct. 6/7

Expt. 5.  Factors regulating leaf guard cell movement

Guard cells regulate the opening and closing of stomata and thus control gas exchange into and out of the plant.

6.  Oct. 13/14

*Report due

Expt. 6.  Photosynthetic oxygen evolution

Light energy oxidizes water to yield oxygen and electrons.

7.  Oct. 20/21

Expt. 7. Measuring photosynthetic electron transport:

Light energy absorbed by chlorophyll can be dissipated as fluorescence or used in a photochemical reaction (electron  transfer)

8.  Oct  27/28

* Report due

Expt. 8. Preparing for an oral presentation

A.  Searching for scientific references in plant biology

How do I read a scientific paper? What? How? Why?

Class will be held in McKeldin Library, Rm # 2109

9.  Nov 3/4

Summary due

Expt. 8. B.  Presenting and discussing a special topic

Prepare for next expt: cut barley seeds

10.  Nov. 10/11

Light and hormonal regulation of development

Expt. 9.  Design experiments to test effect of environmental factors (light or temperature) and hormones (ethylene, ABA, auxin) on germination and development of wild-type or mutant plants.
Propose hypothesis and begin expt

11.  Nov. 17/18

Expt. 9 . 

[continued]  Analyze results quantitatively (Excel) and interpret the findings.   Present the results to class.

Movies!  Motion in plants

12.  Nov. 24/25

Expt. 10.  Induction of alpha-amylase by the hormone, gibberellic acid, during barley seed germination.   Effect of abscisic acid.

Determine the effect of embryo and GA on a-amylase activity and protein levels. 

13.  Dec. 1/2

* Report due

Expt. 11.  Exercise:  Searching for genes, proteins, and their expression patterns using databases.

Using NCBI & other databases to find the latest scoop.

N.B.  Class will meet in Chemistry Building, Rm 3222. 

Open Work Station Lab. [Caedmon Walters, computer manager]

14.  Dec. 8/9

Clean up lab. Last day to turn in all reports to T.As.