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BIOL 325Flowering Plants

Units
0.50
Faculty
Science
Subject
Biology

When it runs

  1. F24
  2. W25
  3. S25
  4. F25
  5. W26
  6. S26
  7. F26
  8. W27
  9. S27

Ran in 0 of the last 7 terms. Winter 2027: not on the schedule. Spring 2027: schedule not out yet.

This course provides an introductory level survey of members of the Class Angiospermae, the largest group of plants, through lectures and laboratory sessions. Topics covered include the identification, nomenclature, taxonomy, and basic morphology of flowering plants, as well as a brief history of classification, pollination biology, and plant molecular systematics. Cultural importance of plant species will be discussed along with historic and contemporary uses of select native plants as food and medicine.

Prerequisites

None listed.

Antirequisites

None listed.

Leads to

No course lists it as a requisite.

Reviewed on UW Flow

70% liked it75% easy50% useful

From 10 ratings and 6 comments on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.

  • It was the worst course I have ever taken in my life. The slides were a mess and hard to understand, especially since this course has no prerequisites and is the first biology course I have ever taken. Cheryl tended to repeat herself in class and constantly got stuck on a single point for 15 mins+ when she could have just summed it up in 3 sentences. iClicker was a scam since she could not even get it to work for 99% of the classes. We only used iClickers like 3-4 times and then we switched to learn quizzes instead. Waste of time and money.

    Dec 2023 · didn’t like itOn UW FlowRemove this

  • Although I found this course to be refreshing after so many micro/physio courses, I feel like this course has the potential to be so much better than it is. The lab is very chill and cool to dissect flowers, and the course content is not too heavy once you wrap your head around the terminology. However Duxbury is just so disorganized in every single way: the lectures jump around topics in a weird progression, the lab doesn't align with the lectures, and the poor lab TA didn't seem to be very well informed about the herbarium assignment. Overall I'd recommend taking this course even if you aren't familiar with plant bio as its hard to fail (just hard to get a 90+)

    Dec 2023 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this

  • More work than its worth. Good if your a botany queen tho. Just not my style

    Dec 2021 · didn’t like itOn UW FlowRemove this

  • Work load is a bit heavy with the mandatory labs. Half florals are not very easy to do, especially online where you cannot interact with the specimen yourself. Lab quizzes are pretty easy. Midterm is decent as long as you know your stuff and study for it.

    Dec 2020 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this

  • Coming from a biologist who really likes flowers, this course was both interesting and easy for me. It is so much information put into one course but it builds on key evolutionary trends of the different families of flowering plants which makes it easier to follow along. The slides get confusing and tend to jump around a lot; I found it easiest to switch some slides around or delete duplicates after lecture to help me study later on.
    The lab was pretty simple and easy to follow along in. You just look at some flowers under a microscope and dissect them. Take pictures of the flowers you look at though because there are weekly (non-cumulative) lab quizzes!
    I found that those who took this…

    Apr 2018 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this

Discussed on r/uwaterloo

27 posts and comments in 25 threads mention BIOL 325, September 2011 to December 2024. Quoted word for word, newest first; each reply sits under the post and the comment that started its branch. Search r/uwaterloo for newer posts.

Fall 2023

Winter 2023

Fall 2020

Anyone here taking Biol 325 rn or take is last semester? 5 points, 7 comments

u/LooWillRueThisDay: “I feel like there's barely information on the Herbarium project, or am I tripping? Do we legit just go outside and find some random flowers, how would we identify them?”

u/RacheltheGreat7: “I am in Biol 325 rn and ya I agree it seems like the course is a bit disorganized. I used this website and was able to identify the flowers I found by the side of the road. Good luck! http://www.wildflowersofontario.ca/colours.html”

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Spring 2020

BIOL 325 vs BIOL 354 Which is an easier 90? 1 point, 14 comments

u/Appropriate_Ad_8991: “Biol 325 (Flowering Plants) vs Biol 354 (Environmental Toxicology), which will be a better science elective? I find both interesting topics but want to take only one of these! Thank you for answering!”

[deleted]: “I took BIOL 325 and it’s fun and easy to get a good grade (my friend and I got over 90) but be prepared to memorize a lot about flowers and evolution. There’s a presentation also, but she handed out 90’s. …”

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Check it elsewhere for Fall 2026

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