Danny Chamovitz

Danny Chamovitz shares with us an intriguing and scrupulous look at how plants themselves experience the world–from the colors they see to the schedules they keep. Highlighting the latest research in genetics and more, he takes us into the inner lives of plants and draws parallels with the human senses to reveal that we have much more in common with sunflowers and oak trees than we may realize. Chamovitz shows how plants know up from down, how they know when a neighbor has been infested by a group of hungry beetles, and whether they appreciate the Led Zeppelin you’ve been playing for them or if they’re more partial to the melodic riffs of Bach. Covering touch, sound, smell, sight, and even memory, Chamovitz encourages us all to consider whether plants might even be aware of their surroundings. Included in this recording, Chamovitz discusses food safety, including its distribution, and transport (track 07) and makes an impassioned argument for GMOs (track 08). You may agree, you may disagree - but worth listening. Project-based lesson plans touch on all topics addressed and are available for elementary, middle, and high school students. Chamovitz studied at both Columbia University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he received his Ph.D. in Genetics. From 1993 to 1996 he carried out postdoctoral research at Yale University before accepting a faculty position at Tel Aviv University where he recently served as Chair of the Department of Plant Sciences. In 2002, Prof. Chamovitz was a visiting scientist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. He also served as the Dean of the George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences at Tel Aviv University. In 2018, Chamovitz was named the 7th President of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beer-Sheva, Israel.

Danny Chamovitz, Plant Biologist

by Danny Chamovitz

Click on the links below for Lesson Plans, Project Ideas, and Additional Resources.

Danny Chamovitz Portraying Photosynthesis

Portraying Photosynthesis Game Cards
Environment Cards

Resource and Oxygen cards

Forest animal cards

Spinner

DANNY CHAMOVITZ and DAVID CARROLL Best Buds

Grade Level: Upper Elementary, Middle School, High School:

From PBS Learning Media:

Living Life as a Plant. In this media-rich lesson, students investigate how plants respond to their environment. They also explore adaptations, such as how some plants are adapted to life in the desert and why some plants trap and digest insects. (Grades 3-5)

From Cornell University:

Cornell University Understanding GMOs In conjunction with Track 08 Genetically Modified Food – Understanding GMOs. The main goal of this activity is to introduce students to ‘thinking like social scientists.’ This activity provides students, in a typical science classroom, the opportunity to investigate, through hands-on and mind-on activities, some of the social and cultural issues surrounding genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

What Fruits and Vegetables Looked Like Before We Domesticated Them / Business Insider

LINKS OF INTEREST (Middle School / High School)

Public Radio International – The Intelligent Plant

TED – Electrical Experiments with Plants that Count and Communicate

Return to All Biology - Plant & Animal >

0:16

01. Intro To Recording

Danny Chamovitz
8:07

02. Becoming a Plant Biologist

Danny Chamovitz
9:28

03. Commonalities between Animal and Plant Cells

Danny Chamovitz
9:39

04. Plant Senses
8:27

05. Rootedness

Danny Chamovitz
4:15

06. Can Plants Hear?

Danny Chamovitz
12:20

07. Food Safety

Danny Chamovitz
11:28

08. Genetically Modified Food

Danny Chamovitz