Plant Diversity

The EU addresses the various groups of plants (“algae,” “cryptogams,” and spermatophytes”), specifying for each group its phylogenetic position and nature (monophyletic or paraphyletic), its origin, and its distinctive features in terms of morphology, anatomy, reproduction, and ecology.

The 4th-grade classes cover the different groups of plants: 4th grade, diversity of “algae”; 5th grade, life cycles of “algae”; 6th grade, “cryptogams”; 7th grade, spermatophytes.

Six tutorials cover cross-cutting concepts through oral and written exercises: Tutorial 1, Biological Cycles; Tutorial 2, Endosymbiosis; Tutorial 3, Interactions; Tutorial 4, Adaptation; Tutorial 5, Polyploidy; Tutorial 6, Phylogeny.

Six lab sessions illustrate the concepts covered in lectures and tutorials using living specimens: Lab 1, “Algae” 1; Lab 2, “Algae” 2; Lab 3, “Bryophytes”; Lab 4, “Pteridophytes”; Lab 5, Gymnosperms, vegetative system; Lab 6, Gymnosperms, reproduction.

- Know how to identify a plant

- Understand the major groups of plants, as well as their specific characteristics (morphology, anatomy, reproduction)

- Know and understand plant phylogeny (diversity and history)

- Course: “Fundamentals of Plant Biology,” in L2S3