Crash Course Botany

How Do We Categorize Plants?

Humans make stuff up—including the names and classifications of living things. But those categories are still useful. In this episode of Crash Course Botany, we’ll explore how taxonomy and systematics help us understand what plants are and where they come from. We’ll discuss the power of naming, and why even scientists don’t agree on what a species is.

How Do We Categorize Plants?

13m 22s

  • The Future of Botany: asset-mezzanine-16x9

    The Future of Botany

    S1 E15 - 12m 21s

    We’ve learned a lot about plants throughout this series, but there’s much more to discover. In this episode of Crash Course Botany, we’ll peek into the future of botany. We’ll consider current plant mysteries, bridges between Western science and traditional knowledge, and what it might take to garden on the moon.

  • Can Planting Trees Fix Climate Change? (Plants & Biomes): asset-mezzanine-16x9

    Can Planting Trees Fix Climate Change? (Plants & Biomes)

    S1 E14 - 12m 24s

    Whether in a desert, the savanna, or a tropical rainforest, plants have an important role in the ecological processes of Earth’s biomes. In this episode of Crash Course Botany, we’ll explore these different living locales, the effects of climate change on them, and how our photosynthetic friends make the world go ‘round.

  • How We All Get Our Energy (Plants & Ecosystems): asset-mezzanine-16x9

    How We All Get Our Energy (Plants & Ecosystems)

    S1 E13 - 12m 53s

    From the driest deserts to the lushest forests, ecosystems are networks of life where organisms and the environment interact. In this episode of Crash Course Botany, we’ll explore how plants function as the foundations of these systems, without which no other life on Earth would be possible.

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