Learning Objectives for the Conquest of the Land Section of the Course

By the end of the course the student should:-   

1. Explain why the green algae are considered the ancestors of land plants
2. Name the selection pressure favouring invasion of the land
3. Describe the challenges to survival on land
4. Explain the expected divergence of sporophyte and gametophyte generations of the first land plants
5. Describe the changes seen in the sporophyte generations of the first land plants
6. Describe Rhynia or other Rhyniophyte from its fossil record
7. Evaluate the phylogenetic relationship of Psilotum nudum to living and extinct plants
8. State what are the earliest fossil remains of land plants
9. Describe the earliest fossil remains of the gametophyte stage of land plants
10. Define the terms Embryophyte and Tracheophyte
11. Recount the approximate time spans of the Devonian and Silurian Periods.
12. Describe the features Charophytes share with land plants
13. Show evidence of self-study by acquiring knowledge about the conquest of the land by algae, other than that presented by the lecturer

© C. M. Sean Carrington 2005
updated 28 July, 2005