Summer School applications and plant defences
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Plant Science Summer School
Are you an experienced post-16 biology teacher who would like to learn more about contemporary plant science? Our residential Plant Science Summer School takes place this year on 1st – 4th July and would be perfect for you. Join 80 undergraduates from universities across the UK for inspirational lectures and exciting practical sessions from some of plant science’s leading lights. You will also have the opportunity to develop your own plant science teaching resource with support from the SAPS team. The course is supported by STEM Learning including a £900 ENTHUSE bursary for eligible schools.
To apply for one of the 8 places available or for more information, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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Quick practicals to encourage students to see plants differently
Why do bananas fluoresce?
You need to find bananas at the right stage of ripening for this practical but once you do, shining a UV torch on the brown spots shows amazing rings of bright fluorescence due to the chlorophyll in the banana skin having broken down. We recommend using a box to make a darker space where it’s easier to see the fluorescence.
Why do bananas fluoresce resource
Why do nettles sting?
There are several plant leaf defences covered in this practical but you could use just the nettle leaves to demonstrate to students that the pain caused by nettle stings is due to acidic compounds being injected into the skin. Extend it by testing dock leaves as well and finding out how they might counter the irritation of a nettle sting.
Adaptation of leaves resource
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News story – Plants de-escalate their chemical defences when they no longer need them
Producing toxic chemicals to defend themselves against herbivores is costly for plants so what should a plant do if the insects that eat it are immune to the chemical they produce? What if the insects are actually using the chemical to protect themselves and are deliberately seeking out the plant as a source of that chemical? Researchers at Drexel University (USA) found that the family of plants containing dogbanes and milkweeds includes several species which have stopped producing a particular group of defence chemicals. The plants previously employed these chemicals as a defence against caterpillars but may have stopped producing them because a family of butterflies became immune to them and then started seeking out the chemicals to use for their own defences. This example of co-evolution shows how interactions between species can drive diversity and has implications in protecting plants from herbivory in agriculture.
EurekAlert summary
Full article
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Dogbane
By Dcrjsr (Own work) [CC BY 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons from Wikimedia Commons
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