Thanks for Case Study Suggestions

[Jon Monroe]

>The suggestion I am leaning to is a self-sufficiency model.  What if Y2K (or
>alternate scenario) crashes our economy and you have to rely on your knowledge
>to grow plants for food, medicine, clothing, etc..

Not a bad thought but couldn't this (Y2K) fuel unnecessary panic?  Another
consideration is that in a year this pedagogical model would be outdated.
I think building a course around real issues that will be with us for a
long time is more logical.  Here is another example that I didn't see
posted: plant biotechnology.  One could tie together nearly all aspects of
plant biology from molecular biology to ecology, and relate them to
agriculture, economics, human nutrition, etc.  The book "Plants Genes and
Agriculture" by Chrispeels and Sadava (1994, Jones and Bartlett, ISBN:
0-86720-871-6) would be a good one to consider for such a course.

Jon

-------------------------------------------------
  Jonathan Monroe
  Associate Professor
  Department of Biology
  MSC 7801
  James Madison University
  Harrisonburg, VA 22807
  voice:  540-568-6649 (office)
          540-568-6045 (lab)
  fax:    540-568-3333
  e-mail: monroejd at jmu.edu
  csm.jmu.edu/biology/monroejd/jmonroe.html
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