Poster: Education

Abs # 33: Laboratory activities in the Undergraduate Horticulture Curriculum

Presenter:	Rathinasabapathi, Bala , brath@mail.ifas.ufl.edu
Authors	Rathinasabapathi, Bala  (A)
Affiliations:	(A): University of Florida

Horticulture, the study of fruits, vegetables and ornamental plants, has a broad student appeal. This is because of the popularity of gardening as a hobby and that students recognize the importance of fruits and vegetables in their diet. Horticulture courses therefore attract both majors and non-majors. Here I describe how fun laboratory and gardening activities centered around 'vegetable gardening' and 'food phytochemicals' topics can be used to teach plant scinece concepts. Activity-based learning modules were used in two undergraduate courses "General Horticulture" and "World Herbs and Vegetables" to teach plant sciences in a stimulating way. Prospects and problems encountered with specific exercises used for teaching the following topics will be presented: Mendelian genetics, plant growth regulators, plant nutrition, plant pigments, antimicrobial substances, flavor volatiles, plant breeding, hybrid vigour,flower development, pest biology, antioxidants, organic horticulture, sustainable horticulture, transgenic crops, and functional genomics.