If you’re interested in plant science studies, we have made it easy for you by providing you with the best free online plant science courses you can choose for the accomplishment of your career path.
A plant is a living thing that has a stem, leaves, and roots and grows in the earth. For it to grow, it must be watered as often as required and adequate attention is given to it for proper growth; hence, the need to study the type of plant led to the introduction of plant science.
Plant science is the study of the biology of plants, their relationship to the environment, and how we can use this knowledge to solve major problems such as climate change and food and energy shortages.
It involves the exploration of the composition and ecology of plant life. It is also the study of the growth, reproduction, structure, evolution, classification, and use of plants.
One who specializes in plants and plant development is known as a plant scientist. The scientist spends time in the lab as well as on field trips. Plant scientists study the genetics of plants and how plant DNA can be used in various applications.
The course plant science is the type of course that can lead to research careers in universities or bioscience companies or employment in agricultural, horticultural, environmental services, or conservation fields.
You can find associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degree programs in plant science, plant biology, botany, and horticulture.
Though these fields vary somewhat, you can explore how plants directly affect everything from what you eat to what you wear. But then, this article is streamlined to provide you with the best plant science courses you can take for free online.
Table of Contents
10 Best Free Online Plant Science Courses
Listed and discussed below are plant science courses you can enroll in without any form of payment. It is suitable for newbies, intermediates, and experts.
- Understanding Plants – Part I: What a Plant Knows
- Understanding Plants – Part II: Fundamentals of Plant Biology
- Plant Bioinformatics Capstone
- Plant Biology
- Improving Food Production with Agricultural Technology and Plant Biotechnology
- Botany and Plant Pathology Course
- Plant-Based Diets: Food for a Sustainable Future
- Understanding Plant Metabolism
- Department of Plant Biology-Southern Illinois University Carbondale
- Fundamentals of Plant Science for Gardeners
1. Understanding Plants – Part I: What a Plant Knows
This is a 12-hour free online course that intends to present an intriguing and scientifically valid look at how plants themselves experience the world through color.
The course is designed for beginners who are interested in learning about the plant’s sensations, how they experience the world if the plants respond to music and lights or see or feel, the inner lives of plants, the latest research on plant genetics, and how plants understand when any insect is infesting its neighbor, etc.
This course is offered by Tel Aviv University and provided by Coursera.
Facts about this course:
- The course is entirely online so you can learn and set the deadlines according to your schedule. The deadlines are flexible.
- You will learn cell biology, what a plant sees, smells, feels, and remembers.
- You must pass all the academic exams on campus before receiving academic credit.
- After completing this course, you will get a course completion certificate.
2. Understanding Plants – Part II: Fundamentals of Plant Biology
This course is a free online 5-hour second phase of the Understanding Plants course. This class is aimed at people interested in understanding the basic science of plant biology and contains four lectures.
In this four-lecture series, you’ll first learn about the structure of plants and plant cells. Secondly, you’ll try to understand how plants grow and develop, making such complex structures as flowers.
Thirdly you’ll delve into understanding photosynthesis how plants take carbon dioxide from the air and water from soil, and turn this into oxygen for us to breathe and sugars for us to eat.
Finally, in the last lecture, we’ll learn about the fascinating, important,t and controversial science behind genetic engineering in agriculture.
This course is also offered by Tel Aviv University and provided by Coursera.
Facts about this course:
- This is a self-paced, free online course
- You’ll learn about the plant organs, root and chloroplast structures, flower development, genetic engineering methods, recombinant DNA technology, etc.
- You must pass all the academic exams on campus successfully before receiving academic credit.
- Upon completing this course, you will earn a course completion certificate that you can add to your resume.
3. Plant Bioinformatics Capstone
This is a five-week, free online course provided by Coursera that can be taken for between 2 and 4 hours weekly.
Plant Bioinformatics covers 33 plant-specific online tools, from genome browsers to transcriptomic data mining to network analyses and others, and these tools hypothesize a biological role for a gene of unknown function, summarized in a written lab report.
Undertaking this course on Coursera you will be introduced to core bioinformatics competencies and resources, such as NCBI’s Genbank, Blast, multiple sequence alignments, phylogenetics in Bioinformatic Methods I, protein-protein interactions, structural bioinformatics, and RNA-seq analysis in Bioinformatic Methods II, the plant-specific concepts and tools introduced in Plant Bioinformatics and the Plant Bioinformatics Capstone.
Furthermore, this course was developed with the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Arts and Science Open Course Initiative Fund (OCIF) funding and implemented by Eddi Esteban, Will Heikoop, and Nicholas Provart.
4. PLBIO 2450 Plant Biology
This is also a free online summer session course provided by Cornell University which entails detailed learning about plant identifications and Botany.
In this course, you will learn about the structure of flowering plants, their classifications, the physiology of the plants, and the reproduction system.
Facts about this course:
- You’ll learn about the evaluation of basic biological concepts.
- You’ll understand the basic principles of Darwin’s plant evolution and the major principles of plant biology
- After completing this course, you will be able to differentiate between the major land plant lineages
5. Improving Food Production with Agricultural Technology and Plant Biotechnology
This is a free online course offered by Futurelearn.
This course covers how to address challenges in growing, harvesting, and processing food, the innovative research solutions that address some of the biggest issues in food, agriculture, and plant biotechnology, and the journey plants take, from crops in the field to food on your plate, the importance of scientific research in food security and the new technologies that are transforming agriculture.
It is a 3-week course designed for adults who have an interest in the technology behind food production and 16–19-year-olds studying biology-related STEM subjects at the A level or undergraduate level.
6. Botany and Plant Pathology Course
Botany and plant pathology is concerned with the study of plants at all levels of biological organization, from molecular and cellular processes to the global ecosystem.
This course is a free online course provided by Oregon State University with the aim of improving your knowledge of Botany and Plant Pathology.
In this 2-week course, you will learn a brief detail about the importance of plants in the environment, plant cells and their types, plant function and physiology, the identification and collection of ferns and flowering plants, plant cells, and water relations, photosynthesis, plant development process, transpiration, etc.
Laboratory support is available to help you understand the physiological processes in the plant system.
Fact about this course:
- You’ll learn the symptoms, diagnosis, and how to prevent plant diseases, focusing on virus pathogens, bacteria, and fungi.
- Laboratory facilities are available in the course to understand better.
7. Plant-Based Diets: Food for a Sustainable Future
This free online course offered by edX covers the science of three global issues infectious diseases, chronic diseases, and climate change how they are directly impacted by what you eat.
When you are aware of the diet-health-climate connection it enables you to improve your health, as well as that of the population and planet.
There is a large-scale adoption of a predominantly plant-based diet that enables us to change our entire food system from the bottom up. In doing so, the future of food becomes sustainable.
There are many benefits to a plant-rich diet, and each sets off a series of cascading positive effects. A plant-rich diet protects you from the worst effects of infectious viral diseases (like the current Corona pandemic), and can also limit the possible emergence of new outbreaks in your body.
You can reduce your carbon footprint and environmental impact by eating a plant-based (or vegan) diet.
A whole-food, plant-based diet is an optimal diet that helps improve overall and metabolic health. This course spans 7 weeks, which can take between 2-3 hours weekly
8. Understanding Plant Metabolism
This is an 8-10 hours free online course that will expose you to the factors affecting protoplast isolation, and application of protoplast cultures.
The concepts of synthetic seed technology and secondary metabolism will be highlighted, as well as freezing methods and applications. You will also see the applications of plant cell technology and how light, pH, aeration, and mixing affect culture conditions.
9. Department of Plant Biology-Southern Illinois University Carbondale
This is a self-paced, free online course offered by Southern Illinois University Carbondale.
They cover the fundamentals of plant biology, such as, how they grow and reproduce, the plant survival process such as nutrient assimilation, photosynthesis, respiration, water transport system, etc., DNA and RNA, evolution, ecology, cell divisions, and the importance of plants conservation in the ecosystem.
In this course, presentations and assignments provided by the instructors will help in improving your critical-thinking capacity.
The fact about this course is that you’ll learn through the oral lectures and PowerPoint presentations from the 50-minute face-to-face sessions that occur three times a week.
10. Fundamentals of Plant Science for Gardeners
In this course, you will discover the key to growing plants successfully by becoming acquainted with plant evolution, the essential stages of plant growth, and the components of plant organs.
There will also be a discussion of plant hormones and adaptations, which will help you understand the processes of photosynthesis, translocation, transportation, and respiration.
In addition, improve your gardening skills by learning the science behind horticultural practices. It is a 4-6 hours Alison course.
Conclusion
Plant biology courses are designed for individuals who want to know about plant life and plant development.
Hopefully, this article has been an eye-opener to the various free plant biology courses you can enroll in. Just as stated above all these courses are designed for you as long as you want to explore more about plant life and development.
Do well to enroll in any of the courses as you will find them intriguing and worth learning.
However, make sure to let us know how the courses worked for you in the comments section, and feel free to suggest any courses we may have missed!
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Ahamefula Ascension is a Real Estate Consultant, Data Analyst, and Content writer. He is the founder of Hope Ablaze Foundation and a Graduate of Environmental Management in one of the prestigious colleges in the country. He is obsessed with Reading, Research and Writing.