Unit 5

Question 1

Soil

Answer 1

A complex mixture of rock pieces, particles, mineral nutrients, decaying organic matter, water, air, and living organisms that support plant life

Question 2

Sand

Answer 2

A granular substance resulting from the disintegration of siliceous rocks
Largest inorganic soil particle

Question 3

Food security

Answer 3

The condition under which people have access to enough safe and nutritious food for a healthy and active lifestyle

Question 4

Chronic malnutrition

Answer 4

A condition in which people do not get enough protein, key vitamins, and minerals

Question 5

Pasture

Answer 5

One of the systems which provide the world’s food alongside croplands and aquaculture
Produces meat and meat products
Also called feedlots, rangelands

Question 6

Irrigation

Answer 6

A mix of methods by which water is supplied to crops by artificial means

Question 7

Monoculture

Answer 7

The practice of growing a single crop at a time on a plot of land

Question 8

Subsistence agriculture

Answer 8

Combines energy from the sun with the labor of humans and draft animals to produce enough crops for a farm family’s survival

Question 9

Slash-and-burn agriculture

Answer 9

A type of polyculture which involves burning and clearing small plots in tropical forests, growing a variety of crops for a few years until the soil is depleted of nutrients, and the shifting to other plots to repeat the process

Question 10

Genetically modified organisms (GMOs)

Answer 10

Organisms created with genetic engineering through the process of gene splicing, which can add, delete, or change segments of an organism’s DNA

Question 11

Soil pollution

Answer 11

Pollution of soil by chemicals emitted by industrial and power plants and motor vehicles

Question 12

Waterlogging

Answer 12

A problem with irrigation in which water accumulates underground and gradually raises the water table
Results in plants drowning/suffocating

Question 13

Soil conservation

Answer 13

Involves using a variety of methods to reduce topsoil erosion and restore soil fertility, mostly by keeping the land covered with vegetation

Question 14

Green manure

Answer 14

A fertilizer consisting of freshly cut or growing green vegetation that is plowed into the topsoil to increase the organic matter and humus available to the next crop

Question 15

Weathering

Answer 15

Biological processes which break down bedrock into smaller pieces

Question 16

Silt

Answer 16

• The middle-sized inorganic soil particle
• 0.002-0.05 mm diameter

Question 17

Food insecurity

Answer 17

The condition under which people are living with chronic hunger and poor nutrition that threaten their ability to lead healthy and active lifestyles

Question 18

Overnutrition

Answer 18

Occurs when food energy intake exceeds energy use and causes excess body fat

Question 19

Feedlots

Answer 19

One of the systems which provide the world’s food alongside croplands and aquaculture
Produces meat and meat products
Also called pastures, rangelands

Question 20

Synthetic fertilizers

Answer 20

Manufactured chemicals that contain nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and calcium

Question 21

Yield

Answer 21

The amount of food produced per unit of land

Question 22

Polyculture

Answer 22

The practice of growing several crops on the same plot

Question 23

Green revolution

Answer 23

• A period that saw a drastic increase in yield due to increased mechanization, better irrigation methods, synthetic fertilizers, monocropping, pesticides, and GMOs
• A process used to produce a higher crop yield