CPSC 112: Introduction to Crop Sciences

• Course Description
• Course Objectives
• Instructor
• Requirements Fulfilled
• Course Time and Location
• Laboratory Sections
• Recommended Text

• Lecture Topics
• Grades and Examination Schedule
• Attendance
• Academic Integrity
• University Course Catalog Listing
• Spring Timetable Entry
• Fall Timetable Entry

Ms. Patricia Stoller
email: pstoller@uiuc.edu
office: AE 114 Turner Hall (behind the student lounge)
phone: (217) 244-5953
Office hours: after class, 10:50-12:00 M-W-F, or by appointment. 

Spring Timetable Entry
Fall Timetable Entry

Recommended:

Introductory Crop Science (6th ed. revised) by Richard Waldren,
Principles of Crop Production (2nd ed. revised) by George Acquaah,
available at campus bookstores.

Required:

Crop Sciences Laboratory Manual by Patricia Stoller,
available in class or at ITCS Marketing and Distribution Warehouse

What is a Crop?

• Definition, Uses, Past and Present
• Plant Form and Function
• Plant Systems

Plant Growth

• Seeds, Germination and Emergence
• Photosynthesis
• Respiration
• Reproductive Growth

Factors Affecting Plant Growth

• Light
• Water and Water Relations
• Temperature
• Plant Growth Regulators
• Mineral Nutrition

Plant Protection

• Insects
• Diseases
• Weeds
• Control of Crop Pests

Specific Crops

• Corn
• Cereals
• Soybean
• Forages and Other Crops

Advances in Crop Production

• Genetics
• Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology

Summary & Review Day

Hour and Final Exam Dates

• Hour Exam 1, September 29
• Hour Exam 2, October 29
• Hour Exam 3, December 8
• Final Exam, Friday, December 19, at 9:00 am in W115 Turner Hall

Grades from three hour exams in lecture (worth 15% each) and the Final (worth 10%) will comprise 55% of your total grade.
Occasional pop quizzes in lecture will make up 5% of your total grade.

Questions on reading handouts will comprise 5% of your total grade.

• Definition:
  Due: Sept 3
  Average = 10.0/11
• Seeds and Germination:
  Due: Sept 12
  Average =
• Photosynthesis:
  Due:
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• Reproduction:
  Due:
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• Light:
  Due:
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• Water:
  Due:
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• Mineral Nutrition
  Due:
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• Weeds
  Due:
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• Control
  Due:
  Average =
• Ag Research
  Due:
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• Corn
  Due:
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• Cereals
  Due:
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• Soybean
  Due:
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• Forage Crops
  Due:
  Average =
• Biotech (extra credit)
  Due:
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• Precision Farming (extra credit)
  Due:
  Average =

The laboratory portion of this course will be 35% of your total grade. Weekly quizzes and lab reports will collectively determine your points earned in lab. Lab is NOT optional. Any absences must be excused prior to or within 3 days of the laboratory period. Lab work submitted one week past the due date will not be accepted.

Grades from lab will be added to those in lecture to calculate your final grade. Lab topics are designed to correspond to and supplement the subjects discussed in lecture.

• Lab 1-Introduction and Plant Classification
• Lab 2-Plant Anatomy
• Lab 3-Seeds, Germination, and Emergence
• Lab 4-Photosynthesis, Respiration, and Crop Growth Analysis
• Lab 5-Reproduction
• Lab 6-Light and Water
• Lab 7-Temperature, PGRs, and Mineral Nutrition
• Lab 8-Crop Scouting and Pesticides
• Lab 9-Crop Pests
• Lab 10-Agricultural Research and Careers
• Lab 11-Cultural Practices
• Lab 12-Corn and Cereal Crops
• Lab 13-Soybean and Forages
• Lab 14-Precision Farming

Attendance in lecture will not be taken, and there will be no penalty directly levied against you for failure to attend lecture. You are encouraged to attend however, for there is a good correlation between those who attend regularly and those that make the highest grades. Students in CPSC 112 are assumed to be mature, to appreciate the need to attend class, and have a desire to do well in the course.