Description given on Youtube:
With almost 400,000 known species and thousands more identified every year, the variety of plant life is almost overwhelming—from the microscopic to the largest organism on Earth. In Plant Science: An Introduction to Botany, you will explore the astonishing adaptations that allow plants to live in an enormous variety of ecosystems, from deserts and the ocean floor to thousands of feet above sea level and on every continent.If you look around right now, chances are you’ll see a plant. It could be a succulent in a pot on your desk, grasses or shrubs just outside your door, or trees in a park across the way. Proximity to plants tends to make us happy, offering unique pleasures and satisfactions. Without plants, we wouldn’t even be here. Not only do plants produce oxygen, they also produce their own food—the food that directly or indirectly supports us and all animal life on the planet. As Dr. Catherine Kleier shares her tremendous depth of knowledge with contagious excitement for her subject—supported by fascinating graphics and in-studio demonstrations—she emphasizes the “stories” of plants themselves: Without neglecting genetics or cell microbiology, or larger ecosystems and habitats, her primary emphasis is always on how plants we see all around us live and adapt. Dr. Kleier shares the pleasures of being able to identify and understand the workings of that tree just outside your window – and of any other plant you may encounter. You will learn that there are three kinds of photosynthesis, how the process separates plants from animals, and why many plants rely on symbiosis with bacteria and fungi in conjunction with photosynthetic processes. While relatively few reproductive methods exist in the animal kingdom, plants have evolved a startling variety of methods for both asexual and sexual reproduction. Many of the most ancient reproductive methods, such as spores, are still successful today and support tens of thousands of species. While other reproductive mechanisms evolved in later periods, each provides unique benefits and challenges. For example, a flowering plant must “figure out” how to move male gametes to the female ovules, so the fertilized ovules can grow into seeds inside the fruit. Given that individual plants are not mobile, how do they accomplish this feat? Explore different aspects of plant reproduction and more in our course on plant science and botany for beginners.
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