Plants and Human Health

Plants and Human Health is a Natural Science class taught by Nancy Lowry.

This course satisfies Division I requirements.

Course Description
Plants and Human Health will examine the medical uses and toxic effects of plants through time and across cultures. Some of these plants and their compounds are well known for their healing properties; for example, aspirin is a derivative of a plant chemical found in willow bark. However, some medicinal uses listed as folk remedies result from pure wishful thinking. The emphasis in the course is to review current scientific studies which examine plant extracts and their chemical constituents for effectiveness in healing and toxic uses. Students are expected to prepare and lead class discussions, write several short papers, and research and write a longer paper evaluating the medicinal effects of plant of their choice.

Learning Goals

 * Project-based
 * Presenting
 * Reading
 * Writing