Minerals

Question 1

What do plants need, apart from CO2 + H20 for health growth?

Answer 1

Mineral salts.

Question 2

Where do plants get mineral salts from?

Answer 2

Minerals are dissolved in water in the soil and so plants
absorb these nutrients in the water they take in from
the soil.

Question 3

Minerals are elements, True or False?

Answer 3

False, they are molecules, and tend to be small.

Question 4

The main elements in mineral salts are:

Answer 4

⚫ nitrogen (N) – needed for healthy leaves
⚫ phosphorus (P) – needed for healthy roots
⚫ potassium (K) – needed for healthy flowers
and fruit
⚫ magnesium (Mg) – needed to produce
chlorophyll

Question 5

What are The pros and cons of organic farming?

Answer 5

+ decrease the risk of toxic
substances remaining on food
+ could reduce the impact farming
has on the environment.

• labour-intensive and may
  result in a lower yield.
• this makes organic food more expensive.

Question 6

Organisms that share a habitat
have to _____ with each
other for limited living resources.

Answer 6

compete

Question 7

What is a weed? And why are they problematic?

Answer 7

A weed is any plant that is growing
in the wrong place. They are a problem for farmers as they compete with the crops for
resources such as light, water, living
space and mineral salts.

Question 8

What can farmers do to control weeds?

Answer 8

One way farmers can control weeds is
to use chemicals called herbicides (or
weedkillers).

Question 9

What types of herbicides are there?

Answer 9

Non-selective herbicides kill most of the plants that they are sprayed on.
They can be used to clear large patches of ground.
Selective herbicides only kill specific types of plants.

Question 10

How can you control Insects?

Answer 10

One way farmers can control insects is to
use chemicals called insecticides.
Insecticides can kill the adult insect or
prevent insect larvae hatching.
However, nearly all types of
insecticides can cause damage to
local ecosystems and many are toxic
to humans.

Question 11

Farmers and gardeners often add manure or
chemicals, called ______, to soil to make sure
that their crops get enough mineral salts.

Answer 11

fertilizers

Question 12

What do fertilizers do? And why are they problematic?

Answer 12

Manufactured fertilizers help crops to grow well and so increase the farmer’s crop yield, but they can be
very expensive.

If fertilizers aren’t used responsibly they can run into
rivers, causing water pollution.