Chapter 11 Guided Reading:
Case Study: Biofuels and Banana Chips: Food Crops vs. Fuel Crops
1: Why do pig farmers have to feed their pigs “junk-food”?
Junk food is cheaper than buying crops
Agroecosystems:
2: Explain how agroecosystems halt ecological succession.
They make them grow and spread fast through early-successional states.
3: What is the problem with growing “monocultures”?
By growing only one crop, it makes it more able to become dosed with diseases.
4: Why does growing plants in neat rows and fields make it easier for pests?
The plants are unable to hide.
5: How does plowing fields over and over damage the soils? Explain.
The soils will be exposed to erosion leading to damage to the structure of the fields.
6: What are the other 2 ways that agrocultures are harmful to ecosystems?
The Plow Puzzle
7: How much of the top soil in the U.S. has been lost since European settlement?
One third of top soil.
Can We Feed the World?
8: What percentage of the world’s land area is used for agriculture?
38%
How We Starve
9: What is the difference between undernourishment and malnourishment?
10: Why does providing food aid to countries in need actually work against increased availability
of locally grown food?
They undercut the local farmers making them unable to compete with the rest.
What We Grow on the Land
11: Most of the world’s food is produced by only 14 species. List them below in order of
importance:
wheat, rice, maize, potatoes, sweet potatoes, manioc, sugarcane, sugar beet, common beans,
soybeans, barley, sorghum, coconuts and bananas.
12: What is a forage crop?
Food grown for domestic animals.
13: Define the following:
Rangeland: Has food for grazing animals
Pasture: Provides forage crop for animals.
14: What impact does the number of livestock around the world have on rangeland and
pasturelands?
Half of the land area of the Earth is a rangeland.
15: Why are feedlots considered to be a big source of local pollution?
They pollute nearby streams and create manure the causes air pollution.
16: What is a benefit of farming animals rather than crops?
Places that are unable to grow crops could be used as rangeland for domestic animals.
Soils
17: How does rainwater affect the soil horizon? Explain.
Due to the acidity of rainwater, chemicals are leached from the soil.
18: What is soil fertility? How it is determined?
It is the required amount of nutrients to grow a plant.
19: Why are soils in humid and tropical areas considered to be poor? What happens to them after
deforestation?
The don't have a good amount of nutrients. When deforestation happens, it is hard for it to grow back.
20: What is the problem with soils in semi-arid regions?
They can potentially break apart roads and walls of buildings.
21: Why are coarse-grained soils more susceptible to erosion that soils that contain more clay?
The course grained soils retain water and retard movement causing the clay to erode.
22: Soil Horizons: Define each of the soil horizons
Horizon O: Has most organics
Horizon A: Made of minerals and organics
Horizon E: Has light colored materials
Horizon B: Made of materials that are leached from the horizons
Horizon C: Made of partially altered parent material
Horizon R: Made of unweathered parent material
Restoring Our Soils
23: What is the difference between organic and inorganic (artificial) fertilizers?
Organics are natural and inorganics are made from industrially. Organics can make chemical and physical
properties better.
24: Define the following:
Macronutrient: Chemical elements that all living things require in large amounts
Micronutrient: A chemical element required in a small amount.
Limiting Factor: A factor that bottle necks the rest of a system.
Controlling Pests
25: In the U.S, how much of the potential harvest is lost to pests?
about 1/3
26: What is the definition of a weed?
An unwanted plant.
Pesticides
27: What are the differences between inorganic and organic pesticides?
Inorganic pesticides using inorganic chemicals while organic ones use compounds that are organic.
28: What are some of the reasons why pesticides are considered to be ineffective?
Over time, the pests will create a resistance the more it is used.
29: Define Integrated Pest Management (IPM) AND explain HOW it works:
It is a way of controlling pests instead of killing the whole population.The steps used are
30: What is the use of biological control and give an example:
It is a species that is an enemy to the other species.
Ex: BT for caterpillars
31: What was the “green revolution”?
It was a set of programs with a goal to make crops more resistant to incoming diseases and bad conditions.
Genetically Modified Food: Biotechnology, Farming and Environment
32: What are the 3 practices of genetic engineering?
33: What are the PROS and CONS of developing hybrid crops?
34: What is the terminator gene and what does it do?
It makes the seeds of a crop sterile preventing the spread of GMOs.
35: What are the political and social concern with companies using seeds with terminator genes?
Corporations are able to take control of the food supply of the world
36: How are GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms) helpful?
They are able to give nutrients and can hold a larger amount of crop yield.
37: How can GMO’s be harmful?
They spread diseases to pollinating animals and such.
Aquaculture
38: What is aquaculture and how can it be helpful?
It is farming sea animals for clean food.
39: What is mariculture?
Farming of ocean fish.
40: How can aquaculture and mariculture harmful to the environment?
It pollutes local water environments and lowers biodiversity.
Critical Thinking Issue: Will There Be Enough Water to Produce Food for a Growing
Population?
1: How might dietary changes in developed countries affect water availability?
Depending on how big the diet is, water will be less or more.
2: How might global warming affect estimates of the amount of water needed to grow crops in
the 21st century?
Global warming makes evaporation faster making water amounts larger .
3: Withdrawing water from aquifers faster than the replacement rate is sometimes referred to as
“mining water”. Why do you think this term is used?
The machines are basically like drills but are pumps. Water in this case are the ores that are considered valuable.
4: Many countries in warm areas of the world are unable to raise enough food, such as wheat, to
supply their populations. Consequently, they import wheat and other grains. How is this
equivalent to importing water?
Some countries are too dry to have water near them. Some waters are even polluted which is why they have
to import water like importing grain.
5: Malthusians are those who believe that sooner or later, unless population growth is checked,
there will not be enough food for the world’s people. Anti-Malthusians believe that technology
will save the human race from a Malthusian fate. Analyze the issue of water supply for
agriculture from both points of view.
that there will be other ways to support the population with the advancing technology.
1: Why do pig farmers have to feed their pigs “junk-food”?
Junk food is cheaper than buying crops
Agroecosystems:
2: Explain how agroecosystems halt ecological succession.
They make them grow and spread fast through early-successional states.
3: What is the problem with growing “monocultures”?
By growing only one crop, it makes it more able to become dosed with diseases.
4: Why does growing plants in neat rows and fields make it easier for pests?
The plants are unable to hide.
5: How does plowing fields over and over damage the soils? Explain.
The soils will be exposed to erosion leading to damage to the structure of the fields.
6: What are the other 2 ways that agrocultures are harmful to ecosystems?
- Lack of the layers of soil
- Unsustainable due to plowing
The Plow Puzzle
7: How much of the top soil in the U.S. has been lost since European settlement?
One third of top soil.
Can We Feed the World?
8: What percentage of the world’s land area is used for agriculture?
38%
How We Starve
9: What is the difference between undernourishment and malnourishment?
- Undernourishment: Insufficience of calories
- Malnourishment: Insufficience of a certain chemical.
10: Why does providing food aid to countries in need actually work against increased availability
of locally grown food?
They undercut the local farmers making them unable to compete with the rest.
What We Grow on the Land
11: Most of the world’s food is produced by only 14 species. List them below in order of
importance:
wheat, rice, maize, potatoes, sweet potatoes, manioc, sugarcane, sugar beet, common beans,
soybeans, barley, sorghum, coconuts and bananas.
12: What is a forage crop?
Food grown for domestic animals.
13: Define the following:
Rangeland: Has food for grazing animals
Pasture: Provides forage crop for animals.
14: What impact does the number of livestock around the world have on rangeland and
pasturelands?
Half of the land area of the Earth is a rangeland.
15: Why are feedlots considered to be a big source of local pollution?
They pollute nearby streams and create manure the causes air pollution.
16: What is a benefit of farming animals rather than crops?
Places that are unable to grow crops could be used as rangeland for domestic animals.
Soils
17: How does rainwater affect the soil horizon? Explain.
Due to the acidity of rainwater, chemicals are leached from the soil.
18: What is soil fertility? How it is determined?
It is the required amount of nutrients to grow a plant.
19: Why are soils in humid and tropical areas considered to be poor? What happens to them after
deforestation?
The don't have a good amount of nutrients. When deforestation happens, it is hard for it to grow back.
20: What is the problem with soils in semi-arid regions?
They can potentially break apart roads and walls of buildings.
21: Why are coarse-grained soils more susceptible to erosion that soils that contain more clay?
The course grained soils retain water and retard movement causing the clay to erode.
22: Soil Horizons: Define each of the soil horizons
Horizon O: Has most organics
Horizon A: Made of minerals and organics
Horizon E: Has light colored materials
Horizon B: Made of materials that are leached from the horizons
Horizon C: Made of partially altered parent material
Horizon R: Made of unweathered parent material
Restoring Our Soils
23: What is the difference between organic and inorganic (artificial) fertilizers?
Organics are natural and inorganics are made from industrially. Organics can make chemical and physical
properties better.
24: Define the following:
Macronutrient: Chemical elements that all living things require in large amounts
Micronutrient: A chemical element required in a small amount.
Limiting Factor: A factor that bottle necks the rest of a system.
Controlling Pests
25: In the U.S, how much of the potential harvest is lost to pests?
about 1/3
26: What is the definition of a weed?
An unwanted plant.
Pesticides
27: What are the differences between inorganic and organic pesticides?
Inorganic pesticides using inorganic chemicals while organic ones use compounds that are organic.
28: What are some of the reasons why pesticides are considered to be ineffective?
Over time, the pests will create a resistance the more it is used.
29: Define Integrated Pest Management (IPM) AND explain HOW it works:
It is a way of controlling pests instead of killing the whole population.The steps used are
- Biological control
- and chemical pesticides.
30: What is the use of biological control and give an example:
It is a species that is an enemy to the other species.
Ex: BT for caterpillars
31: What was the “green revolution”?
It was a set of programs with a goal to make crops more resistant to incoming diseases and bad conditions.
Genetically Modified Food: Biotechnology, Farming and Environment
32: What are the 3 practices of genetic engineering?
- Better ways to make hybrids
- Introduce the terminator gene
- Transfer of genetic properties from a variety of life.
33: What are the PROS and CONS of developing hybrid crops?
- Pros: requirements are lower such as less fertilizer and water
- Cons: Production of hybrids that are pests.
34: What is the terminator gene and what does it do?
It makes the seeds of a crop sterile preventing the spread of GMOs.
35: What are the political and social concern with companies using seeds with terminator genes?
Corporations are able to take control of the food supply of the world
36: How are GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms) helpful?
They are able to give nutrients and can hold a larger amount of crop yield.
37: How can GMO’s be harmful?
They spread diseases to pollinating animals and such.
Aquaculture
38: What is aquaculture and how can it be helpful?
It is farming sea animals for clean food.
39: What is mariculture?
Farming of ocean fish.
40: How can aquaculture and mariculture harmful to the environment?
It pollutes local water environments and lowers biodiversity.
Critical Thinking Issue: Will There Be Enough Water to Produce Food for a Growing
Population?
1: How might dietary changes in developed countries affect water availability?
Depending on how big the diet is, water will be less or more.
2: How might global warming affect estimates of the amount of water needed to grow crops in
the 21st century?
Global warming makes evaporation faster making water amounts larger .
3: Withdrawing water from aquifers faster than the replacement rate is sometimes referred to as
“mining water”. Why do you think this term is used?
The machines are basically like drills but are pumps. Water in this case are the ores that are considered valuable.
4: Many countries in warm areas of the world are unable to raise enough food, such as wheat, to
supply their populations. Consequently, they import wheat and other grains. How is this
equivalent to importing water?
Some countries are too dry to have water near them. Some waters are even polluted which is why they have
to import water like importing grain.
5: Malthusians are those who believe that sooner or later, unless population growth is checked,
there will not be enough food for the world’s people. Anti-Malthusians believe that technology
will save the human race from a Malthusian fate. Analyze the issue of water supply for
agriculture from both points of view.
- Malthusians think that to sustain a growing population, more water will be needed. Anti-malthusians think
that there will be other ways to support the population with the advancing technology.
Directions: Using the Soil Pyramid Program- Identify the Type of Soil with the Following
Percent Compositions:
Sand: 30
Clay: 30
Silt: 40
Answer: Loam
Sand: 45
Clay: 10
Silt: 45
Answer: Sandy Loam
Understand Soils in Biomes Around the World
Go to: https://php.radford.edu/~swoodwar/biomes/
Directions: Determine the Type of Soils that are Characteristics of Each Specific of These
Terrestrial Biomes and List Why?
Tundra: No soil due to the cold temp.
Taiga (Boreal Forest): Podzolization because of the acid solution in the soil
Temperate Broadleaf Deciduous: Forest soil from the hummus
Mediterranean Scrub: Eroded soil caused from goats and fire spread.
Temperate Grassland: Has a concentration of calcium carbonate and high organic content. Has some leaching.
Scrubland: Gray with hummus giving off a brownish color.
Tropical Rainforest: Laterization and low fertility oxisols.
Tropical Savannah: Control of Soil Erosion- go to: http://www2.kenyon.edu/projects/farmschool/types/tillage.htm
Directions: Define and describe each of the alternative methods to traditional soil tillage
Windbreaks: farmers plant trees along the borders of their fields to cut down on wind erosion
Cover Crops: Plants crops that will grow during erosive months of fall and spring
Grassed Waterways:Farmers plant grassy strips to keep soil from running from water.
Contour Cultivation: Process of loosening soil between rows of growing crop
Strip Cropping: Countour farming across slope of a field
Forages: Strip cropping forage crops to slow erosion
Conservation Tillage: Leaving stalks and leaves of harvested crops on fields to make soil not bare.
No-Till: Farmers leave debris from crops while planting new ones
Ridge Tillage: Planting seeds on top of ridges.
Percent Compositions:
Sand: 30
Clay: 30
Silt: 40
Answer: Loam
Sand: 45
Clay: 10
Silt: 45
Answer: Sandy Loam
Understand Soils in Biomes Around the World
Go to: https://php.radford.edu/~swoodwar/biomes/
Directions: Determine the Type of Soils that are Characteristics of Each Specific of These
Terrestrial Biomes and List Why?
Tundra: No soil due to the cold temp.
Taiga (Boreal Forest): Podzolization because of the acid solution in the soil
Temperate Broadleaf Deciduous: Forest soil from the hummus
Mediterranean Scrub: Eroded soil caused from goats and fire spread.
Temperate Grassland: Has a concentration of calcium carbonate and high organic content. Has some leaching.
Scrubland: Gray with hummus giving off a brownish color.
Tropical Rainforest: Laterization and low fertility oxisols.
Tropical Savannah: Control of Soil Erosion- go to: http://www2.kenyon.edu/projects/farmschool/types/tillage.htm
Directions: Define and describe each of the alternative methods to traditional soil tillage
Windbreaks: farmers plant trees along the borders of their fields to cut down on wind erosion
Cover Crops: Plants crops that will grow during erosive months of fall and spring
Grassed Waterways:Farmers plant grassy strips to keep soil from running from water.
Contour Cultivation: Process of loosening soil between rows of growing crop
Strip Cropping: Countour farming across slope of a field
Forages: Strip cropping forage crops to slow erosion
Conservation Tillage: Leaving stalks and leaves of harvested crops on fields to make soil not bare.
No-Till: Farmers leave debris from crops while planting new ones
Ridge Tillage: Planting seeds on top of ridges.