TOPIC 1:
Introduction
to botany
Introduction
This chapter introduces several key concepts:
plants, scientific method, evolution, and diversity
of living things. Most students, especially non-
science majors, will bring to the course either a
misconception that science can provide “all the
answers,” or worse, a distrust of any scientifically
supported theory because of a perceived conflict
with religious or moral beliefs. Photo by: Joseph Valen Roales
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Botany
• Botany is the scientific study of plants.
• Defining the term plant is difficult.
o Inclusions or exclusions of some groups
o Biologists do not all agree.
• Algae: are they plants?
Botany
• At first, interest in plants was practical
o centered around the production of food, fibers, fuel and
medicine
• Eventually, an intellectual interest arose.
o led to plant study becoming a science.
The Characteristic of Life
All living beings have all of the following characteristics; if
even one is missing, the material is not alive:
Metabolism
involving the Nonrandom Growth
exchange of organization
energy and
matter with the
environment
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The Characteristic of Life
contd.
A capacity to
A system of respond to the
heredity and environment
reproduction such that
metabolism is
not adversely
affected
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Plants
• Most have green leaves,
stems, roots, and flowers,
though there are exceptions.
- Conifers (gymnosperms) don’t
produce flowers.
- Mosses lack true leaves, stems,
and roots and neither mosses
or ferns produce flowers.
Plants (contd.)
• Fungi were once considered
plants but are now excluded.
• Green algae are problematic.
- Similar to plant at the cellular
and biochemical level
- But seem to share more with
other algae
History of Explanatory Methods
• Speculative philosophy
- Was developed by ancient Greek philosophers.
- Involves developing logical explanations for simple
observations of the world.
- Does not involve any verification of truth.
Only predictions were made without experimentation.
- Is problematic because several conclusions may be
equally logical and plausible.
History of Explanatory Methods (contd.)
• The scientific method slowly developed starting
before the 1400s, with four basic tenets.
- Source of information
- Phenomena that can be studied
- Constancy and universality
- Based on skepticism
Scientific Method
Describes the procedures of developing and testing
hypotheses.
HYPOTHESIS EXPERIMENT DATA
Tentative, Test to Results from
unproven determine if the
explanation a hypothesis experiment
of an is correct
observation
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Scientific Method
contd.
PRINCIPLE THEORY
Useful Grouping of
generalization related
derived from principles
data
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Steps in doing scientific method
1. Recognize the problem – or an unanswered question
2. Develop a hypothesis – to explain the problem
3. Design and perform an experiment – to test the
hypothesis
4. Analyze and interpret the data – to reach a conclusion
5. Share new knowledge – with the scientific community
Origin and Evolution of Plants
• Organisms were originally simple and increased in
complexity through evolution by natural selection.
• Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyVKrLbpJpo
Natural Selection
• Organisms reproduce and have non-identical
offspring whose features pass to more offspring.
• Offspring with features that are well-adapted to
the environment reproduce more.
Natural Selection
• New features arise periodically by mutations.
• Natural selection determines whether new features
are eliminated or passed on to future generations.
• Evolution by natural selection is a model consistent
with:
o Observations of natural organisms
o Experiments
o Theoretical considerations
Origin of Plants
• Life on Earth began about 3.5 billion years ago with
prokaryotes (bacteria and archaeans).
o Photosynthesis arose 2.8 billion years ago in a
cyanobacterium.
• Organelles evolved followed by division of labor
and specialization.
Diversity of Plant Adaptations
• Over 297,000 plant species exist today; wide
diversity of adaptation is important.
• For any aspect of the environment, many types of
adaptation are possible.
o There is no single, perfect adaptation.
o There are alternative adaptations.
o There are ways of coping with different environments and
the multitude of factors within them.
Fields of Botany
PLANT ANATOMY PLANT TAXONOMY PLANT GEOGRAPHY PLANT MORPHOLOGY
Internal structure of Describing, naming and Plant distribution Form and structure of
plants classifying plants plants
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Fields of Botany (contd.)
PLANT MOLECULAR
BIOLOGY PLANT CELL BIOLOGY PLANT PHYSIOLOGY PLANT GENETICS
Structures and functions Structures, functions, How plants function Plant heredity and
of important biological and life processes of (photosynthesis, variation
molecules (proteins, plant cells mineral nutrition)
nucleic acids)
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Fields of Botany (contd.)
ECONOMIC BOTANY
AND ETHNOBOTANY PLANT ECOLOGY
Practical uses of plants Interrelationships among
and plant products plants, and between
plants and their
environment
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“SAMPUNG
“SAMPUNG
HALAMANG
HALAMANG
GAMOT”
GAMOT”
BREAK
AND ONLINE ACTIVITY
SEARCH FOR THE 10 MEDICINAL PLANTS
APPROVED BY DOH
Present to the class the plant’s common
name, scientific name, & medicinal use
END OF TOPIC 1
CORE RELATED VALUES:
SERVICE
Questions… Mark 1:38-39 Make one’s self
available for service where and
Summary… when needed.
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TLA (Teaching Learning
Activities)
TLA 1: SYNTHESIS WRITING (CO2)
Point Equivalent: 15pts.
Expected Output: Short essay
Instruction: Make a synthesis by satisfying the questions below.
Compose your essay with at least 3-5 sentences per paragraph.
1. How are plants vital to human life?
2. Plans can survive without us, but we cannot survive without
plants. Expound the meaning of the statement.
3. Relate the development of Botany in terms of its contribution to
the development in the medical field.
TLA2: MODIFIED EXPECTATION VS. REALITY (CO3)
Point Equivalent: 25pts.
Expected output: Filled table.
Instructions: Fill the table provided below. Your outputs should suffice
the following questions. You can include as many plants as you can.
• What plants around you have your parents or the members of your
household have used when you are sick or when you have a
common ailment?
• Did some of them provide relief or were they useful at all?
TLA2: MODIFIED EXPECTATION VS. REALITY (CO3)
Plants Norms/Beliefs Were they useful
(Expectations) at all? (Reality)
AT (Assessment Task)
-Online Quiz
Assignment
Assignment for the next topic:
Instruction: Read in advance for the topics that will be discussed on
Topic 2. This is a preparation for an online activity before the
discussion for Topic 2 begins.
