Botany

The course deals with the form, function, evolution, and relatedness of plants from an ecological perspective. Plants' needs of resources, their reaction to changes in the environment, the function of plant hormones and energy transformations in plant photosynthesis are treated in lectures and seminars. The course also addresses the systematic classification and morphology of fungi, algae, and plants. Their outer and inner morphology is described with a special focus on its function and importance for their systematic classification. Various types of life cycles and reproductive systems are discussed. The morphology of groups of fungi, algae, and plants is studied with the help of fresh samples and microscope slides. Students also do a multi-week experiment to study important processes in plant life, carry out experiments on plant photosynthesis, and examine cell types and tissue through the microscope.