Written Project Goal: to read and decipher a scientific paper that describes the structure (morphology and anatomy) of a plant, or related applications of plant structure, such as propagation and biotechnology   

Select a topic related to basic plant science, plant propagation and/or biotechnology (e.g. genetic engineering, plant breeding, hybridization, polyploidy, plant mutations, etc.). Once you find a topic that is interesting to you, then pick one (1) peerreviewed scientific journal article to review. If needed, research the concept through other sources to gain comprehension of the article.

Many articles can be found in the NYBG Library and on JSTOR (www.jstor.org) which is accessible from any Garden computer. If you use the “Advanced Search” feature you can select certain “Discipline(s) and/or Journal(s)”. Most of the journals under “Biological Sciences” or “Botany & Plant Sciences” would be appropriate for this project. Use key words to find a topic or species of interest. Read and summarize the article in your own words*. This summary should be 2-3 pages (12pt. font, single-spaced, 1” borders) and synthesize the major ideas of the article for the public. *Remember that plagiarism, especially a duplication of the abstract, is not acceptable. This will result in a zero for this project and possible failing grade for the course.

Make sure to include…  the taxonomic classification of the organism(s), including species names  a description of any important methods/materials  any definitions of technical words, or details that are unfamiliar to the reader  the results and conclusions made by the author(s)  the significance of the research to the field (i.e. why is this research important?)  the citation for the summary article (use the format of that journal),  citations for any other articles referenced or discussed in your summary When citing your journal or another in your summary, make sure to use the following format: “There is a large group of plants that have flowers [Author and Author 2004].” Due Dates:  Session 6: Show a copy of journal article to instructor  Session 8: Submit written project to instructor