Bio 108    Text  Assignment #1   12 points  Due at time of Exam 1

This assignment corresponds to the readings from Levetin and McMahon, 5th edition.

Chapter 10 p. 170-175

1.  Under "Dietary Guidelines", list 3 diseases linked to diet and nutrition.

2.  Look at the "My Pyramid" fig. 10.5,

    a. On the USDA "My Pyramid", what does the running figure represent?

    b.  Does "My Pyramid" suggest milk and dairy products are part of a healthy diet?

    c. What does the "My pyramid" suggest about the % of grains that should be "whole grains"?

3.  The glycemic index (See p. 173) (GI) measures the effect foods have on ________________________ levels.

4.  Foods bad for us have high GI index like ____________________________.

5. Foods good for us have a low GI index like ________________________.

6.  High GI foods put us at greater risk of _______________ and ________________.

7.  List two diseases that are lower in vegetarians compared to meat eaters (See p. 175).

8.  Box 10.2 suggests the 2nd major cause of cancer after smoking is __________________________.

9.  Box 10.2 suggests you can reduce cancer by eating _____________________.

Chapter 11 Origins of Agriculture

1.  On p. 178, it points out that for most of human existence (250,000 years), our ancestors were __________________.  Our ancestors switched from foraging to farming about ______________years ago.

Chapter 12 The Grasses

1. The most important family of flowering plants is the ____________________________.

2.  List the 3 most important grains.

3.  Bread was made by the ___________________ 4,000 years ago.

4.  Box 12.1 discusses bread making. Bran and germ (part of "whole grains") were removed from flour because ________________________.

5. Refining flour (removing bran and germ) makes it  nutritionally _______________________.

6.  Corn was first grown by _______________________________.

7.  Barbara McClintock (box 12.2) won the Nobel prize for her work on ___________________________in corn.

8.  When Europeans came to the New World (Americas) around 1500, they found the main dietary staple of the native people was ___________________. (p. 193)

9. List 3 uses for corn.

10. The crop that feeds the most people in the world is ____________________.(p. 199)

11.  Rice is grown in flood fields called ___________________.

12.  List one other grain important to humans and give one use for it.

13.  On p. 189, fig. 12.3, it shows a grain, the fruit of the grass.  In whole grain products, both the germ and bran (healthy parts) are left in place.  In refined grain products, the germ and bran are removed leaving only the starchy endosperm.  On fig. 12.3, the grain part we call "germ" is listed as the _______________ and the grain part we call "bran" is listed as the "fused fruit wall and_________________________".

Chapter 13 Legumes

1. Legumes are members of  the _________________ family.

2. List 2 plants in the legume family.

3. Grasses are monocots.  In contrast, beans are _______________.

4. Bacteria form root nodules in the legumes which make _____________________.

5. Beans are a good source of _______________________.(p. 209)

6.  George Washington Carver developed 300 uses of _________________.(p. 213)

7.  Box 13.1 points out that 79% of air is ____________________gas, but it is unusable until altered by legumes.

8.List 2 important products made from soybeans.

Chapter 14 Starchy staples

1.  The starchy staples in the chapter grow in __________________ organs.

2.  Box 14.1 points out bananas are native to __________________________ where they have been growing for 2,000 years.

3. White potatoes have their origins in South _________________.

4.  The population explosion in Ireland (1760-1840) was due to which food crop?  ______________.

5. When this crop failed in the 1840's, millions of Irish emigrated to ____________________.

6.  The Native Americans grew sweet potatoes for thousands of years.  The first European to see sweet potatoes was  _______________________ (p.227)

7. Cassava is familiar to us as ____________________ pudding.

8. Cassava must be prepared carefully as it contains ____________________(p.229).

9.  List an underground crop not mentioned above (see p.231-232). Give one way it is used.

Ch. 15 p. 236-242  The Green Revolution

1.  List 2 of the strategies that have led to an explosion in plant yields by farmers over the past 200 years.

2.  List 2 of the problems associated with these high yields.

Ch. 8, p. 133-136  Evolution

1.  In 1831, age 22, Charles Darwin graduated with a degree in ___________________________, defined as the study of God.

2.  Darwin spent 5 years on the HMS Beagle doing what?

3.  Darwin's book that proposed the idea of evolution was called "On the Origin of _______________________ by means of ___________________________."

4. Evolution by Natural selection has 4 underlying premises. List the 4 below.  Be sure you understand them.

5.  Fig. 8.9 shows three continents Darwin visited.  List them below.

6. Adaptation is mentioned on p. 136 at the bottom.  Define an adaptation.

7.  Box 8.2 (p. 133) talks about biodiversity, defined as an inventory of _______________________ and ___________________________ of organisms.

8.  Box 8.2 suggests the number of species is declining due to ___________________________.

9. _________________________________ are home to 70% of the world's species (box 8..2).

10.  Why should people care about biodiversity and species going extinct (box 8.2)?

Seed structure and germination (p. 89-91)

1. Germination is when the seed begins to sprout or grow.  Where does the seed get food (nutrients) to grow?

2.  What is a cotyledon?

3.  See figure 6.2.  An example of a dicot is a __________________ plant.  An example of a monocot is a _____________________plant.

Monocot vs. Dicot stems p. 36 fig. 3.5 a,c

1.  In monocot stems, vascular bundles are located _______________________.

2.  In dicot stems, vascular bundles are located __________________________.

Monocot vs. Dicot Roots p. 37 fig. 3.7

1.  Is a grass plant (like barley or corn) a monocot or a dicot ? (Circle one!)

2.  Barley has a __________________root system.

3.  Dicots like dandelion have a _______________________root system.

Monocot vs. Dicot leaves p. 41 fig. 3.10 c

1. Monocot leaf veins are _______________________.

2. Dicot leaf veins are ___________________.

Monocot vs. Dicot flowers p. 76 fig. 5.3a

1.  Monocot flowers have petals in multiples of ___________________.

2.  The dicot flower shown has ________________ petals.