Agriculture & Science
Approximately how long ago did agriculture begin?
10,000 years ago
Which agriscience discipline focuses on field crops and soil management?
Agronomy
What is the first step of the scientific method?
Identify the problem
What is the variable that the researcher intentionally changes?
Independent variable
What measurement system is based on multiples of 10 and commonly used in science?
Metric/SI system
What lifestyle did most humans have before agriculture developed?
Nomadic hunter-gatherers
Which branch of horticulture focuses on fruits and nuts?
Pomology
What step comes immediately after identifying the problem?
Research the problem
What is the variable that the researcher measures?
Dependent variable
What metric unit is used to measure mass?
Gram
Name two major changes that agriculture allowed humans to make to their way of life.
Permanent settlements and job specialization
A scientist is studying insects that are damaging a soybean field. Which agriscience discipline would they use?
Entomology
A student predicts that plants receiving more sunlight will grow taller. Which step of the scientific method is this?
Formulate a hypothesis
A student gives plants different amounts of water and measures their height. Identify the independent and dependent variables.
Independent: amount of water; Dependent: plant height
Explain the difference between mass and weight.
Mass is the amount of matter; weight is the force of gravity acting on an object
A scientist studies why a certain crop becomes resistant to a disease. Is this basic or applied research?
Basic research
A farmer grows tomatoes, apples, and flowers. Which branch of agriculture would these crops generally fall under?
Horticulture
After collecting measurements, a student creates a graph and looks for patterns in the results. Which step are they completing?
Analyze the data
A student gives one group of plants fertilizer and another group no fertilizer. Why is the group receiving no fertilizer useful?
It is the control group used for comparison
A farmer has 16 liters of water. How many milliliters is that?
16,000 mL
A researcher uses knowledge about crop disease resistance to develop a new disease-resistant variety for farmers. Is this basic or applied research? Explain why.
Applied research because it uses scientific knowledge to solve a practical problem
A scientist is managing a forest, studying insects affecting the trees, and monitoring the soil. Name two different agriscience disciplines that could be involved.
Forestry and entomology (soil could also involve agronomy/geology depending on the focus)
An experiment produces results that do not support the student's hypothesis. What should the student do?
Draw a conclusion that the data does not support the hypothesis and make recommendations for future research
Two groups of plants receive different amounts of fertilizer, but one group receives twice as much sunlight. Why could this be a problem?
Sunlight is an extraneous variable that could affect the results
A field measures 100 meters by 100 meters. What is its area, and how many hectares is that?
10,000 m²; 1 hectare