Sustainable Agriculture Vocab
What sustainable agriculture avoids and excludes the use of fertilizers, pesticides, growth regulators, and livestock food additives?
What is organic farming or agroecology
Near river valleys; farming developed there.
What can planting trees do to protect farms?
What is protection from soil erosion, less soil disturbance, better soil structure
What does farming efficiency refer to?
Little input, high output...large yield for not much labor/cost.
What word means the farm can operate on its own without farmer input (rice-duck-fish)?
Which two rivers were responsible for the first civilization in Mesopotamia? (100 pts for each right answer) Bonus 50 points if you can name the modern country this is now located in.
Tigris and Euphrates (now in modern Iraq)
Describe at least two different ways food is wasted.
Food is wasted by farms when vegetables or products aren't pretty enough to sell.
Food is wasted in grocery stores when expiration dates or sell by dates are passed.
Food is wasted in the home when people don't finish their meals.
What are the benefits of compost? (100 pts for each benefit)
Reduces food waste, organic method of fertilizing, can reduce pollutants.
What vocabulary word refers to a farm having lots of different types of plants and animals working together?
Diversity
What is a social hierarchy?
A class system with Kings on top and farmers and peasants on the bottom.
Name at least two problems with the cattle industry.
Cow burps release methane gases.
Cows require a tremendous amount of water.
What are some new sustainable technologies helping farmers? (name at least three - 100 pts each)
Drones - help survey lands
Sattelites - help survey lands
Plantalyzer - helps determine which fruits are ready for harvest
GPS
What type of urban farming allows farmers to grow food indoors; manages water waste and saves space?
Vertical Gardens
Besides farming, name at least two big ancient inventions that changed farming shortly afterward and how they changed farming (200 pts for each one).
the development of animal-driven plows to farm in once arid landscapes
the development of irrigation systems to channel water from great distance
the development of writing systems to track goods
calendars
What are the benefits of a plant-based diet? Name two-different benefits for the environment. (200 pts each)
Plants use less space. Plants require less water. Some plants don't require soil. Plants filter pollutants.
What is the definition of sustainability as it refers to planet earth?
Making the planet last - resources, ecosystems, everything.
What is a type of irrigation that reduces water waste and doesn't require soil?
hydroponics
What specialized jobs appeared after farming made people sedentary? (100 pts for each one)
Merchants, Artisans, Powerbrokers (government), Priests, Scribes, Army
What is monoculture and why is it a problem?
Monoculture involves farms growing only one crop and that eventually deteroriates the soil and hurts the ecosystem.
Name at least five types of farming innovations from the Industrial Revolution. (100 pts each)
seed drill, combustible engine, fertilizer, irrigation systems, tractors