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Course name
Introduction to Botany with MacBeth Derham
Recorded course taught by MacBeth Derham for Middle School Earth Science
Summary

Have a green thumb? Love to garden? Want to know more about the biology of plants? Join us for a 13-week tour of the usually lovely—sometimes lethal!—world of plants.

How to make the most of this course:

1. You can get the most out of this class by coming to class, taking the quizzes, doing a little research into any specimen you like, and going outside with your field guides to look at plants!

2. Quizzes are graded automatically on Caravel.

3. No assignments to be submitted on Caravel.

Total number of class meetings: 13

Duration of each class: 45 minutes

Prerequisite: None

Suggested grade level: 6th to 8th grade

Suggested credit: 1 full semester Life Science or Earth Science.

Instructor: MacBeth Derham

Course description: In this course, we will look at plants as whole organisms and plants as composed of individual parts. We will explore the way plant parts work together to transfer energy from the sun to a usable food source for animals. Students will choose a plant to study and present a brief overview for parents.

Course outline:

  • Class 1: Introduction to the science of Botany

  • Class 2: Plant cells—a close look

  • Class 3: Plant parts

  • Class 4: The leaf

  • Class 5: The root

  • Class 6: The stem

  • Class 7: The flower

  • Class 8: Pollination and pollinators

  • Class 9: Seeds

  • Class 10: Fruit

  • Class 11: Pests

  • Class 12: Evergreens and student presentations

  • Class 13: Carnivorous plants and student presentations

Course materials: Practical Botany for Gardeners, ISBN-13: ‎978-0226093932 (https://amzn.to/3gUr1Tv or BookFinder.com)

Homework: Quizzes, assigned reading, and photo safaris. Each student will present a brief overview on the plant of his choosing to the parent during the last day of the semester.

If you have any questions please contact us at homeschoolconnections@gmail.com.

©2022 Homeschool Connections and MacBeth Derham. All rights reserved. This course is designed by MacBeth Derham.

  • This material is only to be used for its intended purpose by active subscribers of Homeschool Connections. Any other use without explicit permission is in violation of the seventh commandment (yes, the 7th commandment)and in violation of US and International copyright laws.

  • You may print or download to local hard disk extracts for your personal homeschool and non-commercial use only. This is not to be used for homeschool co-ops without express written permission from Homeschool Connections.

Course name
Introduction to Botany with MacBeth Derham
Instructor
MacBeth Derham
Semester
Recorded
Category
Science ➤ Earth Science
Grade level
Middle School
Start time
December 16th, 2022 at 12:00 AM ET
Course type
Recorded, free with subscription
Relative due dates
Relative due dates are disabled for this course.

About MacBeth Derham

MacBeth Derham studied biology at Mount Holyoke College and has taught natural history in the field for over 35 years. She currently teaches classes for her homeschool group, tutors math and science privately, and conducts a Marine Biology field school twice a year for local students.

From 2005-2020 she worked with The Front Lawn Players, a Shakespeare troupe made up of students ages 3-18, as both a speech coach and director. She spent the summer of 2017 in Oxford studying literature (including Shakespeare), philosophy, theology, and history. A more than reasonable amount of her time there was spent out of doors, in nature, walking the paths loved by Lewis, Tolkien, and friends. An amateur wildlife and travel photographer, many of her courses feature her own images of creature encounters from both home and abroad. Thanks to her children, she has a fine collection of animal skulls and skeletons.

Mrs. Derham speaks at homeschool conferences on the interdisciplinary need for nature study. She is a retired homeschooling mother of four very different grown children, grandmother of 4 west-coasters, and wife to Don.

  

Click here for more info about MacBeth Derham!

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