A network of interrelated parts that work together to form some function and exchange energy, matter or info.
What is a system?
100
The reason why nitrogen fixation requires so much energy.
What is N2 gas's triple covalent bond, which is very hard to break?
100
Uses forced pollination and seed saving as methods to influence the gene pool of food crops toward certain traits.
What is selective plant breeding?
F/U Question:
1) Who is considered the "father" of the Green Revolution because he used selective plant breeding to develope drought resistant strains of wheat, and more industrial ways of producing it, in order to ward off famine in Mexico in the mid 20th century?
100
A complete set of all of an organism's DNA
What is a genome?
F/U Question:
1) What is a gene?
100
Holds water and nutrients for plants that prevent erosion, gives us air to breath and calories to eat. Hosts decomposers which recycle nutrients. Cleans water through infiltration.
What are dirt's ecosystem services?
200
Inevitably you will run into other systems.
What will happen when you try to define the boundaries of one system?
200
1) Lightening
2) Specialized bacteria on the roots of legumes
3) Haber-Bosch process
What are three ways that unusable nitrogen can be turned into useable nitrogen by fixation?
F/U Question:
1) What part of the "3 Sisters" planting uses nitrogen fixation?
200
Monocultures, farm machinery, fossil fuels, synthetic fertilizers, chemical pesticides, and pumps for irrigation.
What are characteristics of modern industrial agriculture that was started with the Green Revolution?
200
DNA that has been patched together from DNA of multiple organisms or species.
What is recombinant DNA?
F/Question:
1) When was the genetic engineering technology that makes recombinant DNA possible invented?
200
A service of an ecosystem that benefits humans.
What is an ecosystem service?
300
A system where the outputs influence the inputs.
What is a feedback loop?
300
Plants up-take useable nitrogen, assimilate it into their tissues, animals eat the plants and decompose, or produce waste that re-releases usable nitrogen back into the environment.
What is the process of decay and decomposition in the nitrogen cycle?
300
Natural fertilizers (like manure and compost), energy from human and animal muscle power, biodiverse plantings, and seed saving.
What are characteristics of traditional agriculture?
F/U question:
1) What are some things that have made farming in the Gamo Highlands sustainable for over 10,000 years?
300
1) Specific genes can be selected
2) Genes from different species can be spliced together.
How is transgenic breeding different from selective breeding?
F/U Question:
1) How are transgenic breeding and selective breeding similar?
300
50% pore space, 45% rock or mineral, 5% organic material.
What is soil made up of?
400
A system where the outputs influence the inputs in a way that pushes a system in the opposite direction and drives the system towards balance.
What is a negative feedback loop?
F/U questions -
1) What are examples of negative feedback loops?
2) In what kinds of environments are negative feedback loops most often found?
400
Specialized bacteria convert one form of useable nitrogen (ammonia and ammonium) into other forms of more useable nitrogen (nitrites and nitrates).
What is nitrification?
F/U questions:
1) Could you recognize the molecular formulas for ammonia, ammonium, nitrite and nitrate?
2) What part of the aquaponics system at Cylburn Arboretum use the nitrification process of the nitrogen cycle?
400
Planting just one species of crop in a large area in order to increase the efficiency of harvesting it.
What is a monoculture?
400
A crop in which the gene that codes for Bacillus thuringiensis's pesticidal protein has been inserted into it's DNA. The crop therefore produces a protein that kills certain caterpillars and larvae of some flies.
What is a Bt crop?
F/U question:
1) What are some promises and pitfalls with Bt crops?
400
Biological, chemical and physical weathering.
Deposition.
Decomposition.
What are the three mechanisms responsible for soil formation?
500
Systems where the outputs influence the inputs in a way that pushes the system in the same direction and drives the system to an extreme.
What is a positive feedback loop?
F/U questions:
1) What are examples of positive feedback loops?
2) In what kinds of environments are positive feedback loops most often found?
500
This human invention is responsible for turning the nitrogen cycle (which was originally a negative feedback loop) into a positive feedback loop.
What is the Haber Bosch process?
F/U question:
1) Why did the Haber Bosch process have such a big impact on the nitrogen cycle?
500
It is an environmental perspective that states that humans are part of a complex interwoven system of living and non-living things. The health of the overall system depends on the health of all of its interrelated parts.
What is the Land Ethic?
F/U question:
1) Can you name and briefly describe the five other environmental perspectives that we discussed?
500
A recombinant DNA crop that is resistant to an herbicide.
What is a "Roundup Ready" crop?
F/Question:
1) What are some promises and problems associated with using this crop?
2) How can its use lead to the development of "super weeds"?
500
The soil horizon in which most of the organic material resides.
What is the A horizon (aka topsoil)?
F/U question:
1) What is regolith?