1. Relate Cause and Effect Describe how selective breeding was used to develop corn from an ancestral grass that looked very different
Infer What effect could plant species extinction have on therapeutic drug development

2. Ch 24 Plant Reproduction and Response
24.4 Plants and Humans

3. Most people worldwide depend on four crop plants for the bulk of their food supply
Rice
Wheat
Soybeans
Corn.

4. Beginning of human civilization linked to the cultivation of crop plants
Planting and harvesting of crops tended to keep people in one place for much of the year
Lead directly to the
establishment of
social institutions.

5. Most of our food comes from seeds of plants
Roughly 80% of all U.S. cropland is used to grow just four crops: wheat, corn, soybeans, and hay
Three of them are grasses.

6. Efficiency of agriculture has been improved through the selective breeding of crop plants and improvements in farming techniques.

7. Corn grown by Native Americans was developed more than 8000 years ago from teosinte, a wild grass found in Mexico.

8. Changes caused by selective breeding has greatly exaggerated modern corn kernels compared to its ancestor, teosinte.

9. Plants as different as cabbage, broccoli, and brussel sprouts have been developed from a single species of wild mustard
Sugar beets came from selectively breeding the ordinary garden beet.

10. Improvements in farming techniques have contributed to dramatic improvements in crop yields
Use of fertilizers and pesticides
Labeled with three numbers that reflect the percentage by weight of three elements: nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K).

11. Overfertilizing can kill crop plants by putting too high a concentration of salts into the soil
Fertilizer runoff from the fields may contaminate streams, wetlands, lakes, and groundwater
Chemical pesticides can harm wildlife and leave dangerous chemical residues in food.

12. How is food grown/raised in the US
What does that require
Non mechanized farming can yield kcals per kcal spent to grow food
US gets back only .1 kcal per 1 kcal spent
Overall loss of energy
NOTE: We grow incredibly higher total amounts of food with mechanized farming.

13. Plants produce the raw materials for our homes and clothes, and some of our most powerful and effective medicines
Aloe vera contains many chemicals that soothe and moisturize the skin
Spruce wood is ideal for use in musical instruments
Cotton is used in many products including thread, bandages, carpet, and insulation.

14. By about how much did the amount of corn produced per acre of farmland increase between 1985 and 2005?
How would you describe the overall trend in the data?
Predict What factors do
you think might influence
corn production in the
next decade?