BISC 115 Final
There are biological reasons we find the taste of meaty, fatty, salty, starchy, and sugary
foods so appealing - correct answer-However, our metabolisms evolved around a diet rich in
plants that was supplemented by meat.
Hunting - correct answer-was energetically expensive and could potentially be dangerous.
Fruits and vegetables require relatively little energy to obtain, and (unless they are
poisonous) weren't life threatening.
Humans have always been plant eaters. - correct answer-For a million-plus years, the
omnivorous ancestors foraged for a wide range of fruits, leaves, and seeds.
Beginning around 10,000 years ago, they domesticated some grains, tubers, and legumes
(all among richest sources of energy/protein in the plant world).
What allowed humans to become fed more reliably? - correct answer-Development of
agriculture
What allowed for the first human settlements to form then the development of larger cities? -
correct answer-Cultivation of plants
Agriculture's other impact on the human diet - correct answer-Agriculture decreased the
variety of plant foods contained within the human diet.
Industrialization reduced it even further.
Fruits and vegetables became marginal foods in the modern Western diet.
Variety experience to plants - correct answer-Earthy roots & Bitter, pungent, and refreshing
leaves & Perfumed flowers & Sweet and tart fruits & Nutty seeds & Astringency and
sought-after pain & Thousands of aromas
Why do plants have a vast array of chemically-provided properties? - correct answer-The
fact that some plant aromas are designed to attract, while others are designed to deter are
borne out of the same reality in the life of a plant: plants are stationary.
Why do plants have a vast array of chemically-provided properties? - correct answer-In order
to survive as immobile lifeforms, they have evolved to produce a variety of chemicals to
impact the behaviors of other organisms.
The colors, scents, and tastes they produce can deter predators, and attract friends.
Plants vs. animals - correct answer-it becomes apparent that mobility (or lack thereof) has
had a huge impact on how these organisms evolved. Animals are meaty.
Why aren't plants meaty? - correct answer-Muscle is for movement, and plants are immobile.
Plants never evolved to have any muscle-like tissue and are therefore not "meaty".
The lack of mobility is why plants can have strong flavor.
Can't evade predators, so must deter them by other means.
,Also, the reason for having mobile reproductive cells (pollen), as well as the production of
fruits, which carry fertilized seeds.
Why haven't plants evolved to move like animals? - correct answer-Explained with how
energy is obtained. Plants evolved to produce chemical energy on their own. Sources of
nutrients for plants are very reliable. They do not need to relocate in order to obtain them.
Roots reach deep into soil for water and minerals, leaves effectively capture energy from
sunlight.
Plant photosynthesis - correct answer-we owe our very existence to it.
All living organisms break down glucose for energy.
It is believed that all life has evolved to metabolize glucose, because glucose pre-dates life
on Earth. As life arose, it utilized the already-present energy source available in the
environment.
Eventually life evolved the ability to produce glucose on it's own.
This process utilized an atmosphere that was rich in carbon, water provided by the
environment, and energy from the sun.
This process, photosynthesis, yields oxygen as a byproduct.
Eventually, there was enough oxygen present on Earth that it allowed for the evolution of
animals.
How do plants capture sunlight? - correct answer-All molecules are capable of absorbing
energy. Some molecules are very good at it, and others not so much. Molecules are also
capable of being selective about the type of energy they absorb.
Plant pigments - correct answer-Plants use pigments to capture specific types of light
energy.
The most prominent of these pigments is chlorophyll.
Chlorophyll is what gives plants their green color.
White light (sunlight) - correct answer-contains all of the colors. A prism will cause light
diffraction, allowing us to see individual light colors.
What we see is the light that was not absorbed, only what is reflected.
Many plants are green because chlorophyll absorbs everything except green light.
How is the remaining light captured? - correct answer-In order to prevent light energy from
going to waste, plants produce additional pigments that capture light at different wavelengths
of light.
Carotenoids - correct answer-are a class of accessory pigments that are in plants (shown
here as beta-carotene).
Accessory pigments - correct answer-such as beta-carotene, allow the full range of visible
light to be harvested for energy by a variety of organisms on Earth.
How should AdventureGames ensure they are in line with the trends of the industry?
In Fall - correct answer-leaves stop producing chlorophyll for photosynthesis, so we see the
presence of the other pigments in the leaves.
,Possibly a protection mechanism against too much sun damage and a last-ditch effort to
collect fuel before winter.
Process of photosynthesis - correct answer-Carbon Dioxide + Water + Sunlight = Sugar +
Oxygen
Photosynthesis 1st stage - correct answer-The light reactions are the first stage. In this
stage, water is converted into oxygen.
Light energy is also captured, and turned into chemical energy.
This energy is used to make sugar molecules in the second stage
Photosynthesis 2nd stage - correct answer-The Calvin Cycle is the second stage. It is also
known as the "dark reactions".
The energy captured in the light reactions is used to convert carbon dioxide into sugar.
Photosynthesis recap - correct answer-The energy from light is captured by specialized
chlorophyll molecules.
When this happens, it causes electrons to be pulled away from water.
This causes water to be turned into oxygen.
The electrons are then transferred to a high-energy molecule.
How is sugar actually formed? - correct answer-In photosynthesis, sugar is made from the
carbon dioxide (CO2) provided by the atmosphere.
The high-energy molecule made in the light reactions will be used to help trap CO2 into a
growing molecule of glucose.
To produce one new glucose molecule - correct answer-6 CO2 + 12 H2O + Light Energy -->
Glucose + 6 O2
We need 6 carbon dioxide for one glucose
Biology of the Plants We Eat - correct answer-Many plants came to be cultivated by humans
through unsophisticated means. They would leave the seeds of useful plants in fertile waste
heaps.Early Europeans relied mostly upon wheat, fava beans, peas, turnips, onions,
radishes, and cabbage.
Early civilizations in Central America - correct answer-relied on staples that included corn,
beans, hard squashes, tomatoes, and avocados.
Peruvian settlements - correct answer-relied heavily on potatoes.
Northern Asia - correct answer-utilized soybeans, relatives of cabbage, millet, apple, and
peach.
Southern Asia - correct answer-had rice, bananas, coconuts, yams, cabbage relatives, citrus
fruits.
Indigenous African crops - correct answer-included millet, rice, bananas, yams, and
cowpeas (black eyed peas)
, Ancient Greece and Rome - correct answer-With the Greeks and the Romans began the
foundations for modern Western cuisine. Greeks were fond of lettuce, and habitually ate fruit
at the end of their meals. Around 500 B.C., pepper from the Far East was in use (and most
popular spice of the ancient world). In Rome, lettuce was served at the beginning and end of
meals. As in Greece, fruit was served as dessert. Romans would graft the shoots of fruit
trees onto other trees, resulting in 25 apple and 35 pear varieties being made available.
When the Romans conquered Europe, they brought with them tree and vine fruits, cultivated
cabbage, as well as their heavy use of spices.
The New World - correct answer-Spice plants helped to shape world history over the past
500 years. Europeans strongly desired Asian spices, which proved to be the driving force in
the development of Italy, Portugal, Spain, Holland, and England into the major seafaring
powers during the Renaissance.
Columbus, John Cabot, and Magellan - correct answer-were all in search of a new route to
the Indies in order to break the monopoly of Venice and southern Arabia on the ancient trade
in cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and black pepper. They failed at that. But they succeeded in
opening the door for the exploitation of the "West Indies" by Europe.
The New World was initially a disappointment due to the lack of sought-after spices. - correct
answer-However, vanilla and chilis quickly became popular. In addition, the new vegetables
they were introduced to were largely adaptable to the European climate. Bean, corn,
squashes, tomatoes, potatoes, and sweet chilis eventually became staple ingredients in the
new cuisines of the Old World.In the centuries to follow, the focus became the art of their
cultivation and use in cuisine.
herb and spice - correct answer-These two are used primarily as flavorings, and in small
amounts.
Herbs - correct answer-primarily come from the leaves of plants. Examples: basil, parsley,
thyme, and rosemary
Spices - correct answer-are generally seeds, bark, and roots. Examples: pepper, cinnamon,
and ginger.
Seeds - correct answer-are not necessarily spices, however. Wheat and rice are seeds, yet
they wouldn't be considered flavorings. They are consumed for their nutritional/caloric
values.
Vegetable - correct answer-is defined as the part of the plant that is neither fruit, nor seed.
Fruit - correct answer-has both a technical and common meaning. The technical definition is
the part of the plant that develops from the flower's ovary, and surrounds the plant's seeds.
In the common usage of fruit, we tend to ignore the technical meaning, and base our
definition based upon other qualities of the food. - correct answer-Many of use "vegetable" to