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Class Activities |
Chapter 40: Plant Nutrition And The Practice Of Agriculture |
1. Relevance of Topic
A very large number of individuals in the United States are engaged in agricultural pursuits or are employed in connection with this industry.
Everyone in our society depends heavily, if not completely, on the success of commercial agriculture.
2. Continuity
This chapter concludes the plant section of the text and allows for some comparative physiology when covering animal control systems (e.g. hormones).
3. Demonstration Activities
Text section 40.1
1. Figure 40.1 summarizes the processes of plant nutrition and illustrates materials flowing through a plant.
Text section 40.2
1. Show Table 40.1 and discuss the mineral elements essential for plant life.
2. Compare the six main macronutrients for plants with those for animals and draw connections wherever possible.
3. Show a photo or film of hydroponic plant production and discuss how this growth technique was used to determine the essential plant nutrients.
4. Ask students to design a specific experiment using hydroponics and analyzing how specific nutrients affect plant growth.
Text section 40.5
1. Show Figure 40.5 and discuss the varied contents of soil and ask students to hypothesize about which soil contents contribute positively to plant growth and which do not.
2. Bring soil samples from different local areas and also present photos of the plants found living there. Inspect the soils and discuss soil type and inorganic and organic contents.
Text section 40.6
1. Show a film of water running over rock and include ice melting; discuss how rock is transformed into soil.
Text section 40.7
1. Show Figure 40.7 and discuss the rhizosphere.
2. Dig up a plant from a nearby woods, if possible, and bring it intact with its rhizosphere to class. In class, pull apart the rhizosphere and analyze the contents.
Text section 40.8
1. Show the nitrogen cycle and discuss the critical importance of nitrogen fixation.
2. Ask students to provide reasons why nitrogen is important to living organisms (e.g. for nucleic acids).
3. Bring plant specimens to class that demonstrate root nodules and show Figure 40.10 in discussing the importance of nitrogen-fixing bacteria.
Text section 40.11
1. Show Figure 40.12 and discuss the detrimental effects of intensive modern agriculture on various ecosystems.
Text section 40.12
1. Show Figure 40.13 and discuss how it might be possible to transform current agricultural methods into less destructive ones.
Text section 40.14
1. Show Figure 40.14 and discuss how plants are often involved in commensalism.
2. Show photos of Spanish moss growing in its natural habitat and ask students to explain how the plant is nourished if it does not have roots.
Text section 40.15
1. Show Figures 40.15 and 40.16, which illustrates a totally nonphotosynthetic plant that obtains its nutrients from other plants.
2. Discuss how parasitic plants affect their hosts.
3. Show Figure 40.17 and discuss how carnivorous plants obtain specific nutrients by digesting their prey. Compare and contrast this with the nutrient acquisition of a nonheterotrophic plant.
4. Bring living specimens of plants covered in this section and demonstrate feeding (e.g. the Venus flytrap will capture Drosophila).
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