Understanding Plants - Part I: What a Plant Knows
Tel Aviv University
About this Course
For centuries we have collectively marveled at plant diversity and form—from Charles Darwin’s early fascination with stems and flowers to Seymour Krelborn’s distorted doting in Little Shop of Horrors. This course intends to present an intriguing and scientifically valid look at how plants themselves experience the world—from the colors they see to the sensations they feel. Highlighting the latest research in genetics and more, we will delve into the inner lives of plants and draw parallels with the human senses to reveal that we have much more in common with sunflowers and oak trees than we may realize. We’ll learn how plants know up from down, how they know when a neighbor has been infested by a group of hungry beetles, and whether they appreciate the music you’ve been playing for them or if they’re just deaf to the sounds around them. We’ll explore definitions of memory and consciousness as they relate to plants in asking whether we can say that plants might even be aware of their surroundings. This highly interdisciplinary course meshes historical studies with cutting edge modern research and will be relevant to all humans who seek their place in nature.
This class has three main goals: 1. To introduce you to basic plant biology by exploring plant senses (sight, smell, hearing, touch, taste, balance). 2. To introduce you to biological research and the scientific method. 3. To get the student to question life in general and what defines us as humans.
Once you've taken this course, if you are interested in a more in-depth study of plants, check out my follow-up course, Fundamentals of Plant Biology.
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
Skills you will gain
Plant BiologyGeneticsCell BiologyBotany
Syllabus - What you will learn from this course
1
Section
Introduction
Welcome to "What a Plant Knows (and other things you didn't know about plants)". If you have not already, please review the Course Syllabus for general information about this course.
9 videos (Total 45 min), 1 reading, 1 quiz
9 videos
1.1 Introduction3m
1.2 Our Life and Plants7m
1.3 Plants and Biology Research3m
1.4 Plants and Food Security4m
1.5 Major Themes in Plant Biology4m
1.6 Scientific Process3m
1.7 The Evolution of Plant Structure and Senses6m
1.8 Plant Evolution10m
1 readings
How to succeed in this course? PDF version5m
1 practice exercises
Introduction10m
2
Section
What a Plant Sees?
This week we start a systematic review of a plant's sensory systems by starting with plant responses to light. We will cover an overview of human vision, plant responses to light, Darwin's experiments showing plant responses to light, phototropism, phytochrome and flowering, and modern research on phototropism. In other words, this week we get into more advanced concepts in plant sensory biology. The last module is especially advanced, and will be clearer for those of you with a strong biology background. But do not fret, aside from very basic concepts, this module will NOT be included in the exam (you will not be responsible for understanding the intricacies of the experimental methods, etc.). If you have not already, please review the Course Syllabus for general information about this course.
7 videos (Total 50 min), 1 reading, 1 quiz
7 videos
2.2 Darwin's Experiment6m
2.3 Light and Flowering7m
2.4 Phytochrome: A Light-Activated Switch7m
2.5 Arabidopsis Blind Mutant8m
2.6 What a Plant Sees?5m
2.7 Molecular Biology of Plant Vision8m
1 readings
Week 2 - Suggested Reading30m
1 practice exercises
What a Plant Sees?16m
3
Section
What a Plant Smells?
This week we continue our systematic review of a plant's sensory systems by exploring responses to volatile chemicals (in other words, what a plant smells). We start with an overview of the plant cell, briefly review human olfaction (smell), and then explore how fruits know when to ripen. From there we go over three different experiments that explore plant responses to volatile chemicals and start exploring the controversial question, "Do plants communicate with each other?".
7 videos (Total 49 min), 1 reading, 1 quiz
7 videos
3.2 Lock and Key Mechanism of a Receptor3m
3.3 Ethylene and Fruit Ripening7m
3.4 Mechanism of Ethylene Receptor7m
3.5 Plant Communication: Example 16m
3.6 Plant Communication: Example 26m
3.7 Inter and Intra Communication11m
1 readings
Week 3 - Suggested Reading30m
1 practice exercises
What a Plant Smells?12m
4
Section
What a Plant Feels?
This week we continue our systematic review of a plant's sensory systems by exploring responses to tactile stimulation (in other words, what a plant feels). We start with an overview of the mechano-sensory system that differentiates between different tactile stimulations, briefly review the way electricity is used in neural communication, and then explore how the Venus flytrap knows when to close, and what powers the opening and closing of the Mimosa leaves. We'll learn how plants change their structure to cope with windy conditions, and go over some of the rather complex biology that is involved in the genetic response in plants to being touched. I'll let you know what I think of the question, Do plants feel pain? And then we'll try to understand whether plants hear, and if they do, which music they prefer.
10 videos (Total 78 min), 1 reading, 1 quiz
10 videos
4.2 How Does the Venus Trap Know When it has been Touched?7m
4.3 Water and the Plant Cell6m
4.4 Leaf Movement in Mimosa4m
4.5 Thigmomorphogenesis8m
4.6 Genes that Respond to Touch4m
4.7 Do Plants Feel Pain?3m
4.8 The Sound of Music and Plants10m
4.9 Plants and Deaf Genes10m
4.10 Sound Perception in Plants13m
1 readings
Week 4 - Suggested Reading30m
1 practice exercises
What a Plant Feels?10m
5
Section
How a Plant Knows Where it is?
This week we continue our systematic review of a plant's sensory systems by exploring the 6th sense - proprioception. We start with an overview of the proprioceptive system that allows us to keep our balance and to know where are body parts are in space. Theמ we will explore how plants know up from down, using both experiments from a few hundred years ago, and experiments conducted on the space station. We'll go over the structure of roots more in detail in order to understand where the cells are that sense gravity. We'll revisit phototropism, and learn what the chemical signal is in plants that allows them to respond to light and gravity. And lastly, we'll learn what makes a plant dance.
8 videos (Total 51 min), 1 reading, 1 quiz
8 videos
5.2 Plant Response to Gravity3m
5.3 Gravitropism in Roots10m
5.4 The Discovery of Auxin5m
5.5 Auxin Transport3m
5.6 Auxin and Root Initiation8m
5.7 Sensing Gravity6m
5.8 Circumnutation7m
1 readings
Week 5 - Suggested Reading30m
1 practice exercises
How a Plant Knows Where it is?10m
6
Section
What a Plant Remembers?
This week we move beyond survey of a plant's sensory systems, and explore how plants retain, store and recall sensory information. In other words, we ask the questions, What do plants remember? We'll try to define what we mean by "memory" and briefly review different types of human memory. The we'll look at the short-term memory found in the Venus fly trap, and the long term morphogenic memory first described 50 years ago by the Czech scientist Rudolf Dostal. We'll have a guest lecture from Prof. Nir Ohad about epigenetics and the long-term memory of winter, and even the role of epigenetics in trans-generational memory.
6 videos (Total 33 min), 1 reading, 1 quiz
6 videos
6.2 Short Term Memory5m
6.3 Long Term Memory 15m
6.4 Long Term Memory 2 (with Prof. Nir Ohad)10m
6.5 Epigenetic Heredity1m
6.6 Intelligent Memory?3m
1 readings
Week 6 - Suggested Reading30m
1 practice exercises
What a Plant Remembers?8m
7
Section
The Aware Plant
This is the final week in our journey through a plant's sense of the world. This week's lecture has two separate parts. In the first part, we continue last week's discussion of a plant's ability to remember to a more theoretical discussion on the definition of memory and consciousness. This leads us to the question, "Are plants intelligent?". We'll hear what some of the students in this class think of intelligence before finishing with a quick examination of "intelligence", and end with my own take on a plant's, and our place, in the world. In the second part we'll go for a tour of my lab and see our plant growth facilities. I'll give you a brief overview of one of the projects in my lab, and you'll meet a few of the students doing the research. And in the end, you'll even get to meet Dr. Aviva Katz.
6 videos (Total 29 min), 1 reading, 1 quiz
6 videos
7.2 What Do We Mean When We Say "Intelligent"?7m
7.3 A Tour of the Manna Center4m
7.4 Research in the Chamovitz Lab8m
7.5 Food Security1m
Bloopers (oops!)1m
1 readings
Week 7 - Suggested Reading30m
1 practice exercises
Final50m
4.8
40%
83%
40%
Top Reviews
By RV•Dec 13th 2016
Love the clarity of the instructors deliver which is supported by great explanations and most importantly visual aids & demonstrations. Ps... Especially loved the bloopers at the end. Nice treat! :)
By MR•Oct 1st 2016
So far, I'm really enjoying this course. I like the look of it, the professor is engaging and as a layperson I find the content very, very interesting. What a wonderful take on plant biology!
Instructor
Professor Daniel Chamovitz, Ph.D.
Dean, George S. Wise Faculty of Life SciencesAbout 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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