Learning Target: Plants in Human Culture(Part I)

I Can… Explain some of the important ways in which humans rely on plants.

I Will… • List various Earth cycles in which plants

play an important role• Define the term agriculture• Describe how agriculture has impacted

human societal evolution• Contrast agriculture with ethnobotany

Plants in Human Culture

KEY CONCEPTS: Humans rely on plants in many ways:• Agriculture provides stable food supplies

for people in permanent settlements• Plant products are important economic

resources involved in local and world trade

• Plants compound are essential to modern medicine

• Plants play a role in Earth cycles

Plants in Human Culture

Plants are components of:• Water Cycle• Carbon Cycle• Nitrogen Cycle

Plants in Human Culture

Plants Facts:• > 350,000 plant species used for food• < 20 plant species provide more than

90% of world’s food supply

Ethnobotany – study of how people in different cultures use plants

Agriculture – growing of plants and raising of animals for human use

Plants in Human Culture

Agriculture:• 11,000 years ago• Fertile plains of Middle East

Hunter/Gathering v. Agriculture:• Allowed for stable societies/cultures• Sharing of ideas• Development of written language

• Time• Architecture• Scientific discovery

Plants in Human Culture

Agriculture:• Artificial selection process• “Domesticated” plants

• Most modern crops e.g. wheat, corn, rice• Domesticated from wild grasses• Recent genetic engineering

Plants in Human Culture

Cultivar:• Contraction of “cultivated” and “variety”• Plants selected for valuable

distinguishing characteristics for further development over time

• Propagated vegetatively v. from seed• “Clones” retain desired characteristics

• e.g.• Thompson Seedless Grapes• Valencia Oranges

Learning Check : Plants in Human Culture

1. What is the difference between…• Agriculture

And• Ethnobotany

2. How did agriculture impact human societal evolution?

Plants in Human Culture

References

[Carbon Cycle]. (n.d.). Retrieved January 28, 2013, from

http://www.ucar.edu/learn/1_4_2_15t.htm

[Nitrogen Cycle]. (n.d.). Retrieved January 28, 2013, from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nitrogen_Cycle.svg

Nowicki, S. (2008). McDougal Littell biology. Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell.

Towle, A. (2002). Modern biology. Austin, TX: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

[Water Cycle]. (n.d.). Retrieved January 28, 2013, from

http://socialstudiesarecool.blogspot.com/2011/11/water-cycle.html

[Wheat]. (n.d.). Retrieved January 28, 2013, from

http://www.holon.se/folke/lectures/agri/agriculture.shtml