Wednesday July 9, 2008

Online Resources

8:30-10:00

Corn under Construction (Part 1)
Case analysis
Agricultural expert on Bt corn
Miguel Gutierrez, Monsanto

Case: Biological Inquiry Chapter 6
Resource:
Case: The Farmer and the Gene

10:00-10:15

Break

10:15-11:45

Field trip: Set pollen traps
Dr. Don C. Wilkerson, Professor
Micah Hale, Garden Coordinator,
Department of Horticultural Sciences,
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension

Map of the TAMU Horticultural Gardens

11:45-1:00

Lunch

1:00-2:30

Pollen Imaging - SEM
Larry Griffing  Biology Department
SEM facility and wet lab
Preparing pollen samples

Lawrence Griffing Bio
TAMU Microscopy and Imaging Center

2:30-2:45

Break

2:45-4:15

Collect pollen traps
Larry Griffing
SEM images from samples
Capturing pollen images

4:15-5:00

Summary of the Day
Big Ideas – Pollen is used to identify plants. Pollen is similar in closely related plants. Most pollen is only 10-100 microns in size.
Brainstorming ways to use pollen traps as a tool for student investigations.

Day Overview

Pollen collection and identification, genetically engineered crops..
Agricultural expert – Miguel Gutierrez
Horticulture experts - Don C. Wilkerson
 and Micah Hale
Visualization expert-Larry Griffing SEM

Homework

Look up five images of plants and their pollen

Using Investigative Cases