Plant Physiology and Ecology (C1027)

15 credits, Level 5

Autumn teaching

Plants provide us with food, a breathable atmosphere, raw materials and medicines whilst removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The first half of this module will look at the origins and evolution of plants and the taxonomy of the major plant groups.

The module will look at plant genetic diversity at the molecular level and look at genetic fingerprinting methods for the assesment of biodiversity in both wild and crop plants. We will then explore how plants sense their environment, take up nutrients and photosynthesise and store metabolites. The final section looks at the methods of producing genetically modified (GM) crop plants for food and biotechnology, and their benefits and potential threats to the environment and human health.

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 150 hours of work. This breaks down into about 20 hours of contact time and about 130 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2023/24. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum. We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.