1. Importance of Plants
Plants and People

2. Produce virtually all our food Provide medicine
Influences Earth’s cycles
water, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and mineral nutrients

3. Botany Study of plants More than 350,000 plant species
Fewer than 20 plant species provide our food

4. Cultivation Approx. 11,000 yrs ago in Middle East
Wheat, barley, lentil, and peas
1st domesticated
Agriculture
Cultivar (Cultivated and variety)
Specific characteristic selected by humans

5. Food Crops Classified partly by use and family Cereals
Rice, wheat, corn, oats, sorghum, rye, and millet
50% of worldwide calories

6. Food Crops Root crops Roots or underground stems Rich in carbohydrates
Beets, radishes, carrots, rutabagas, turnips, potatoes, and yams

7. Food Crops Legumes Peas, beans, soybeans Bear seeds in pods
Improve nitrogen content in soil
Symbiotic relationship with bacteria
Rhizobium

8. Food Crops
Fruits, Vegetables, and Nuts
Spices, Herbs, and Favorings

9. Food Production Mass production of crops Fertilizers Pesticides
Consequences
Soil erosion
Depletion of fossil fuel and water supplies
Pollution and destruction of habitat

10. Nonfood Uses Medicines Clothing and Fabric Dyes Fuels Other Uses
Ornamental
Tourist attraction
Energy conservation

11. Plants and the Environment
Plant ecology
Producers make food for consumers
Photosynthesis
Organic compounds
Inorganic nutrients
Maintenance of soil

12. Interactions Plant and animal Plant and microbe Plant and humans
Pollination
Seed dispersal
Plant and microbe
Plant and humans
Food, shelter, medicine, etc
Weeds
Harmful plants

13. Critical Thinking
Discuss how the artificial selection by humans play a role in the origin of agricultural crops? How is artificial selection similar to natural selection?
Explain why plant materials entering the country are screened by government inspectors
If all animals disappeared from the Earth, what would the positive and negative effects be on plants?