In this first lab exercise, you will be given a tour of the ECSU greenhouses. You will learn about how this facility provides the light, temperature, water, minerals, soil, humidity, and space for growing plants. You will learn about its efficiency and design compromises. You might want to take some field notes. This is an appropriate first exercise as it provides an overview of environmental factors that influence the normal function of plants.
Plant physiology is the study of normal plant function.
Through the semester you will examine the roles of these factors in plant function. Activities I will then show you how to prepare friable soil. For future exercises, you will plant a pot of five bean seeds, a pot of five sunflower seeds, a pot of five cucumber or squash seeds, a pot with a cutting of scented geranium. In your exercises this semester you will use an attitude of inquiry, some seeds of technique, and do some real science. In most exercises you will decide what to examine, how to examine it, what the results mean, and when your examination is finished.