Plants and People
Plants and People
In this homework, we will investigate the importance of plants in our everyday lives – in ways other than just for oxygen.
Photosynthesis is arguably one of the most important processes on Earth – essentially all life depends on it. Humans and other animals depend on plants to capture the energy of the sun and use that energy to manufacture carbohydrates – subsequently releasing the oxygen that we breathe. But plants are vital to our lives in other ways as well. Think about the pencil you write with (or used to), the toothpick you used last night, the cotton T-shirt you wore today, or the maple syrup you had on your pancakes this morning. These all came from plants! Ethnobotany is the study of the relationship between plants and people – plants used for practical, ceremonial, spiritual, medicinal, decorative, edible, etc. purposes.
Instructions:
- You are to find a plant product that we use every day.
- Make sure to include the product name in the title of your discussion.
- Do some research and address the following:
From what plant does your product come? Include the common and scientific name (properly formatted).
What is the product? What does it do? How do we extract it from the plant? Describe in detail.
What is the primary use: medicinal, ceremonial, etc.?
Are there commercial fields for the plant? Where?
Are there any substitutes for your product? If there is no information, feel free to take an educated guess, and support it.
What is the most fascinating thing you learned about your product?
350-400 words excluding references, APA format, and a minimum of 3 references