4.8
stars
1,078 ratings

Professor Daniel Chamovitz, Ph.D.

39,936 already enrolled

Offered By

Understanding Plants - Part II: Fundamentals of Plant Biology

Tel Aviv University

About this Course

18,226 recent views

This class is aimed at people interested in understanding the basic science of plant biology. In this four lecture series, we'll first learn about the structure-function of plants and of plant cells. Then we'll try to understand how plants grow and develop, making such complex structures as flowers. Once we know how plants grow and develop, we'll then delve into understanding photosynthesis - how plants take carbon dioxide from the air and water from soil, and turn this into oxygen for us to breathe
and sugars for us to eat.  In the last lecture we'll learn about the fascinating, important and controversial science behind genetic engineering in agriculture.

If you haven't taken it already, you may also be interested in my other course - What A Plant Knows, which examines how plants see, smell, hear and feel their environment: https://www.coursera.org/learn/plantknows.

In order to receive academic credit for this course you must successfully pass the academic exam on campus. For information on how to register for the academic exam – https://tauonline.tau.ac.il/registration

Additionally, you can apply to certain degrees using the grades you received on the courses. Read more on this here – 
https://go.tau.ac.il/b.a/mooc-acceptance

Teachers interested in teaching this course in their class rooms are invited to explore our Academic High school program here – https://tauonline.tau.ac.il/online-highschool

Flexible deadlines

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Shareable Certificate

Earn a Certificate upon completion

100% online

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Intermediate Level

Approx. 6 hours to complete

English

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Skills you will gain

Plant Biology
Biology
Genetics
Plant

Flexible deadlines

Reset deadlines in accordance to your schedule.

Shareable Certificate

Earn a Certificate upon completion

100% online

Start instantly and learn at your own schedule.

Intermediate Level

Approx. 6 hours to complete

English

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Try Coursera for Business

Instructor

Instructor rating

4.88/5 (239 Ratings)

Professor Daniel Chamovitz, Ph.D.

President, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

109,859 Learners

2 Courses

Offered by

Tel Aviv University

Tel Aviv University (TAU) is Israel's largest institution of higher learning – with over 30,000 students and more than 125 schools and departments in nine faculties. Global in outlook and impact, it is consistently ranked among the world's top 100 universities, as well as the top 20 institutions in terms of scientific citations. A spirit of openness and innovation is evident in all of TAU's teaching and research activities, breaking down barriers between disciplines, and boldly striving to address the twenty-first century's most pressing challenges.

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Syllabus - What you will learn from this course

Content Rating97%(3,450 ratings)

Week

Week 1

2 hours to complete

Course Introduction and Plant Cell Structure

2 hours to complete

10 videos (Total 49 min), 3 readings, 1 quiz

10 videos

Course Promo1m

1.1 All plants are made of cells4m

1.2 Different types of microscopy are used to study cells6m

1.3 Characteristics of plant cells5m

1.4 Plastids2m

1.5 The origin of chloroplasts2m

1.6 The cell wall3m

1.7 The vacuole and plasmodesmata6m

1.8 Vascular tissue - xylem6m

1.9 Vascular tissue – phloem9m

3 readings

Before we begin10m

How to succeed in this course? PDF version5m

Whole-Plant Structure

1 hour to complete

6 videos (Total 38 min), 1 reading, 1 quiz

Week

Week 3

1 hour to complete

Photosynthesis

1 hour to complete

8 videos (Total 31 min), 1 reading, 1 quiz

8 videos

3.1 Chloroplast structure1m

3.2 Chemical currency: ATP and NADPH4m

3.3 Light and Photosynthesis3m

3.4 The light-dependent reactions and electron transfer2m

3.5 The Light-dependent Reactions and ATP2m

3.6 Phototsynthesis 2: The dark reactions and sugar synthesis3m

3.7 Discussion with Prof. Nir Ohad: The Carbon Cycle7m

3.8 Inside a photosynthesis lab6m

1 reading

Plant genetic engineering

1 hour to complete

9 videos (Total 47 min), 1 reading, 1 quiz

9 videos

4.1 Introduction4m

4.2 Cultivated foods and genetic changes5m

4.3 Conventional breeding and genetic engineering methods3m

4.4 Recombinant DNA technology8m

4.5 Transgenic plants - proof of concept5m

4.6 Case study: Genetic engineering in combating viruses in agriculture4m

4.7 Examples of genetic engineering: Nutritional benefits3m

4.8 Potential of genetic engineering: I Insect resistant plants3m

4.9 Concerns about the use of genetic engineering in agriculture6m

1 reading

Reviews

4.8

268 reviews

5 stars
83.98%
4 stars
14.07%
3 stars
1.48%
1 star
0.46%

TOP REVIEWS FROM UNDERSTANDING PLANTS - PART II: FUNDAMENTALS OF PLANT BIOLOGY

by JLAug 27, 2017

The course does very good job for providing the planned content. However if you have already studied the field and want to have more deep understanding like I do, you need to look for other courses.

by RROct 29, 2016

It was one of the best course from Coursera and Tel Aviv university. I enjoyed a lot. The content was very good for an agriculture student. The presentation was also good.

by ABAug 12, 2021

good but the quiz which is being given after every session should be more improved and they should show the correct answer so that we could learn our mistake

by DAMay 14, 2020

Very interesting and informative towards understanding the basis of plant biology. A lot of information is explained in a condense fashion - hence giving a high return on time invested.

View all reviews

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Understanding Plants - Part II: Fundamentals of Plant Biology

Understanding Plants - Part II: Fundamentals of Plant Biology

About this Course

Skills you will gain