Organismal Biology is a popular science elective, open to all students who have completed the required single semester Introductory Biology class. Students worked on this project for the first time during Spring, 2003. The requirements for the plant project are outlined below:

We will culminate our coverage of plants with a digital plant activity. The project will be worth the equivalent of a single exam. This project will be due Friday, May 2 in its final form.

Guidelines follow:

1. Get together with another person or two other people to form a development team.
2. Your task will be to develop a web page dealing with a selected plant species that you will be photographing over the next few weeks.
3. Begin by walking around Uni and several blocks north examining various different trees and bushes. Your task on the first day will be to 1) select your tree or bush, 2) photograph the tree or bush at a distance, 3) photograph the bark, and 4) collect a small sample from the plant that includes buds, nodes, lenticels, etc. The sample must be small (8" maximum) and it will be photographed on a background that includes a ruler.
4. Begin development of a web page regarding your selected species that includes the following:

Common Name
Genus and Species
Other Common Names
A minimum of four digital photographs you have taken which must include your selected plant at a distance, bark, close-up of the stem, and close-up of a developed leaf.
Description: Leaf, Flower, Fruit, Twig, Bark, Form, Discussion, Distinguishing Characteristics, Distribution, Images, Location, Copyright Statement, and References.

Be certain to use a minimum of three reference books and list each one used in your reference section.

An example of this type of an online description can be found at http://www.carlinvilleschools.net/linke/BIBE/rbir.htm. I will have a template available for you next week.

Good luck and have fun with this. Monitor your plant on a regular basis and photograph at times you consider appropriate. I'll have digital cameras available at school from now until completion of the project.

Today, each group will look through the web pages of class plant digital images to:
identify your pictures, and
determine whether there is a need to take any additional pictures to replace pictures that didn't turn out well from the photography on Friday, April 11.

After evaluating suitability of your first set of pictures, we will go out to take a second set of pictures. I suspect that you will observe significant changes in bud, leaf, and flower development. You'll certainly want to get pictures of:

your plant again (taken from the same angle),
a branch (with the ruler background) that shows the various developing structures,
a leaf or set of leaves (with the ruler background), and
another picture of the bark if your first picture didn't turn out well the first time.

FYI - Pictures are accessible at
http://www.uni.uiuc.edu/~dstone/1st_org_bio_pics.html
http://www.uni.uiuc.edu/~dstone/2nd_org_bio_pics.html
http://www.uni.uiuc.edu/~dstone/5th_org_bio_pics.html

Our last strictly organismal activity is the digital plant activity we began in March. Your group project will be worth the equivalent of one exam. This project will be due at 4 P.M. Tuesday, May 27th in its final form.

Guidelines follow:
1. Identify your photographed plant today. Be sure to verify your identification with me if you have not done so already.
2. Using the provided text resources, begin obtaining and recording the following information regarding your selected species:

Common Name (Genus and Species)
Other Common Names
Description: Leaf, Flower, Fruit, Twig, Bark, Form,
Discussion
Distinguishing Characteristics
Distribution
Images (A minimum of four digital photographs you have taken including your selected plant at a distance, close-up of the stem, close-up of a developed leaf and an additional picture.)
Location
Copyright Statement
References (Be certain to use a minimum of three reference books.)

A quality example of this type of an online description can be found at http://www.carlinvilleschools.net/linke/BIBE/rbir.htm.

Class photographs can be found at
http://www.uni.uiuc.edu/~dstone/1st_org_bio_pics.html
http://www.uni.uiuc.edu/~dstone/1st_org_bio_pics2.html
http://www.uni.uiuc.edu/~dstone/1st_org_bio_pics3.html

http://www.uni.uiuc.edu/~dstone/2nd_org_bio_pics.html
http://www.uni.uiuc.edu/~dstone/2nd_org_bio_pics2.html
http://www.uni.uiuc.edu/~dstone/2nd_org_bio_pics3.html

http://www.uni.uiuc.edu/~dstone/5th_org_bio_pics.html
http://www.uni.uiuc.edu/~dstone/5th_org_bio_pics2.html
http://www.uni.uiuc.edu/~dstone/5th_org_bio_pics3.html

Good luck and have fun with this!!!