Introduction to Plant Science (Hochman Adler)
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- 1: The Process of Science
- Science isn’t just about memorizing facts—it’s a way of exploring and understanding the world around us. In Chapter 1, we will learn that science is a process built on curiosity, creativity, and careful thinking. Scientists ask questions, make observations, and test ideas through experiments. They use both inductive reasoning (looking at patterns to form ideas) and deductive reasoning (using general rules to predict outcomes).
- 2: The Importance of Plants
- Plants are essential to human life. This chapter explores how agriculture began, how crops were domesticated, and how plants have shaped human societies. From food and medicine to clothing, shelter, and culture, plants provide the foundation of our daily lives. The chapter highlights the role of women in early farming, the global origins of major crops, and the diversity of edible plant parts we consume. It also explains how how ancient seedless plants contributed to modern energy sources.
- 3: Introduction to Plant Science
- Chapter 3 opens the door to the fascinating field of plant science, or botany—the study of plants and plant-like organisms that shape our ecosystems and support life on Earth. From the duckweed to sequoias, plants are essential for oxygen, food, medicine, and more. We will explore what counts as a plant, dive into their unique life cycles, and the evolutionary processes that shaped them. You’ll discover the many branches of plant biology and learn how plants interact with other organisms.
- 4: Taxonomy
- This chapter addresses the importance of binomial names, sometimes referred to as scientific names. Common names have their place, but they can be ambiguous. Binomial nomenclature is more precise; its use ensures that you’ll get the correct plant and the correct information on how to grow and propagate it. The second section in this chapter addresses seed germination, arguably the most common and important method of propagating plants.
- 5: The Plant Cell
- Explore the tiny yet complex world of plant cells! This chapter covers their unique parts—like chloroplasts, vacuoles, and cell walls—and how they work together to support life. Learn about cell types, energy-making organelles, and how plant cells communicate and grow. It’s a journey into the building blocks of all plant life!
- 6: Cell Division, and Sexual Reproduction
- Plant propagation relies on gametogenesis for fertilization and the formation of fruit and seeds. Unlike asexual propagation, seeds from a single pollination can generation tremendous variation, depending on the diversity that exists within each parent. Geneticists take advantage of this diversity to understand how genes control the plant’s phenotypes and to make improved varieties that are tastier and have improved disease resistance.
- 7: Cellular Respiration and Fermentation
- Cells convert glucose into usable energy (ATP) through cellular respiration, which includes glycolysis, the Krebs cycle, and oxidative phosphorylation. In low oxygen, some organisms use fermentation, producing less ATP. ATP powers cell functions, and experiments show how factors like temperature affect fermentation. Both autotrophs and heterotrophs rely on these processes to release energy.
- 8: Photosynthesis and Plant Pigments
- Photosynthesis lets plants turn sunlight into food! Using pigments like chlorophyll, they absorb light and convert it into energy. This happens in two stages: the light stage (makes ATP and NADPH) and the Calvin cycle (uses those to build glucose). Different plants use special tricks like C4 and CAM pathways to save water or work better in heat. Plus, plants also breathe—just like us—using oxygen to make energy at night!
- 9: Tissues and Organs - How the Plant is Built
- Plants are built from tissues and organs that help them grow, survive, and thrive. Tissues like epidermis protect, parenchyma stores and photosynthesizes, and vascular tissues (xylem and phloem) move water and food. Organs include roots (anchor and absorb), stems (support and transport), and leaves (photosynthesize). Each part has special structures and adaptations to help plants live in different environments.
- 10: How Plants Grow, Part 1
- The organization of the plant is not unlike that of our own bodies. At the simplest level, cells are organized into tissues; these form organs that make up the plant body. At each level of this organization are specializations for the specific functions that occur during the plant’s life cycle. In this chapter, you’ll explore the structures and functions of leaves, shoots, and roots.
- 11: How Plants Grow, Part 2
- In this chapter we explore the two main types of plant growth, determinant and indeterminate, and the vast diversity in form and number of inflorescences. As you learn the vocabulary, think about why each plant has these growth forms. A species with more flowers and seeds, for example, may be a better fit in its environment than a plant with a small number of flowers, but larger and more robust seeds.
- 12: Meristems and Flowers
- Plants have meristematic cells that are not differentiated, but that are destined to divide and produce other cells that may also divide, elongate, and differentiate into specialized cells and tissues. This process is called growth. A highly specialized structure produced after the transition from a vegetative meristem to a reproductive meristem is called a flower. Floral organs are arranged in concentric circles or whorls and are the site of sexual reproduction.
- 13: The Origin of Flowering
- This chapter explores the fascinating evolution of flowering plants, or angiosperms, often referred to as “Spermatophyta 2.0” — an upgraded version of seed plants. Unlike gymnosperms, angiosperms have several unique features such as enclosed ovules, double fertilization, and highly efficient reproductive strategies. These innovations allowed them to outcompete other plant groups, especially in the understory where gymnosperms struggled due to their slower life cycles.
- 14: The Origin of Trees and Seeds
- Competition over resources (primarily water and sun light) always drove plant evolution. The most logical way to escape competition was to enlarge the body. But if only primary tissues are available, this growth is strictly limited. Without secondary thickening, the trunk will easily break under the weight of growing crown, and the plant will die. This is easy to see in plants which still dare to develop the tree-like habit without secondary growth: tree ferns and palms.
- 15: Seeds
- Seeds are key to feeding the world’s population as a nutrition and calorie source and for the propagation of most crops. In addition, being a fusion of paternal (pollen) and maternal (egg) genetic material, seeds create diversity; evolution acts on this diversity, and plant breeders take advantage of it to improve crops.
- 16: Fruit
- Fruit are important for their culinary importance and provide calories, nutrition, and pleasure. They also are the location for the development of seeds — the most important means to propagate plants and the source of genetic variation.
- 17: Water and Light
- Plants are sessile and cannot move to locations that might be more suitable for growth and reproduction when environmental conditions become less than favorable. To maintain growth, plants monitor signals of light, temperature, humidity, wind, and soil water availability; these signals inform the plant on how to modify water movement and gas exchange, which also affect photosynthesis. These lessons review how these signals impact physiology and the role of photosynthesis in growth.
- 18: Roots and the Movement of Water - How is water moved through a plant?
- This chapter explores how water moves through plants, starting from the soil and traveling up to the leaves. It introduces the unique physical properties of water—such as cohesion, adhesion, and tonicity—and explains how these contribute to water transport. Key processes like diffusion, osmosis, and pressure differences are discussed in the context of how plants absorb, move, and regulate water.
- 19: Soils, Fertility, and Plant Growth
- When a plant grows in soil or potting mix it removes nutrients as well as water from the soil. Although a plant produces (fixes) its own carbon-based molecules from photosynthesis, all other nutrients are taken up by the roots from soil. As we harvest plant material and dead plant material decomposes, these nutrients are depleted. This lesson discusses how this process changes soil structure, texture, and fertility.
- 20: Introduction to Agriculture
- This chapter introduces agriculture as a recent but transformative human activity that began around 10,000 years ago, shaping ecosystems and societies through the domestication and cultivation of plants. It explores how key crops evolved, how modern practices like ecological management and genetic engineering have advanced agriculture, and how this ongoing interaction between humans and plants continues to impact the environment.
- 21: Plant Breeding
- This chapter introduces the fascinating world of plant breeding, showing how humans have shaped crops through both traditional and modern techniques. It explores how breeding strategies differ depending on whether a plant is propagated by seed (like tomatoes) or asexually (like roses). You'll learn about key practices like emasculation, hybridization, and selection, and how these methods are used to develop new plant varieties with desirable traits.
