Possible Free Response Questions (FRQs) for Unit 5 Test (chapters 9, 10)

Directions: You will be asked to answer two of the five questions listed below (my choice), which are weighted equally; the suggested time is about 22 minutes for answering each question. Write all your answers on the pages following the questions in the pink booklet. Where calculations are required, clearly show how you arrived at your answer. Where explanation or discussion is required, support your answers with relevant information and/or specific examples.

  1. Two different soil samples (“Soil A” and “Soil B”) were collected, suspended in water and allowed to settle in graduated cylinders. Consult the soil sediments below and answer the following questions. The space between each horizontal tick on the graduated cylinders represents 10 mL (the uppermost tick marks 100 mL).

  1. Use the soil triangle diagram provided to determine the soil types for samples A and B. Show all work.
  2. Which soil is likely to require more frequent irrigation? Explain your answer.
  3. Describe TWO ways that humans degrade soil.
  4. Describe TWO farming practices that protect against soil degradation.
  5. Identify and describe one important law or program (U.S. or international) that promotes soil conservation.
  1. The students of Curtis High school have developed a genetically modified variety of popcorn that can be grown in salty soils.
  2. Describe the cause and process of soil salinization.
  3. Design a laboratory experiment to determine whether or not your GM popcorn grows better in salty soils than regular popcorn does. For the experiment that you design, be sure to do all of the following.
  4. State the hypothesis.
  5. Describe the method you would use to test your hypothesis.
  6. Identify the control.
  7. Identify the dependent variable.
  8. Describe experimental results that would lead you to reject your hypothesis in part (b)(i). (Be specific)
  9. There are many advantages and disadvantages to genetically modified crops.
  10. Identify and describe TWO benefits of GM crops.
  11. Identify and describe TWO concerns that people have regarding GM crops.
  1. Read the following article from the WSU extension and answer the following questions.

  1. Explain how the practices of conventional tillage and no-till agriculture differ.
  2. Describe TWO additional benefits of no-till farming beyond lower production costs and higher yields.
  3. Soil quality is a critical factor in agriculture. Identify one physical and/or chemical properties of soils and describe its role in determining soil quality.
  4. Irrigation is another important factor in agricultural sustainability. Drip irrigation is an alternative to conventional irrigation.
  5. Describe TWO benefits of drip-irrigation.
  6. Describe one problem with using drip-irrigation for agriculture.
  7. Synthetic fertilizer use has risen sharply in the last few decades. Identify and describe TWO negative impacts that widespread synthetic fertilizer use has on the environment.
  1. Greeley, Colorado is home to North America’s largest meatpacking plant and two adjacent feedlots.
  2. Use the assumptions below to answer the questions that follow. For each calculation, show all work.

Each of the two feedlots contains 1x105 cattle
1 cow eats 12 kg grain each day
1 cow produces 20 kg manure each day
There are 2.2 pounds in a kilogram
Each feedlot consumes 1x106 gallons of drinking water each day
  1. Calculate the amount of grain, in kg, that all of the cattle in the two feedlots consume in one year.
  2. Calculate the amount of manure, in POUNDS, that all of the cattle in the two feedlots produce in one year.
  3. Calculate the volume of water, in gallons per day that each cow consumes.
  1. Identify and describe one positive impact that high-density feedlots, such as the one in Greeley, CO, have on the environment as compared to traditional, lower-density farms.
  2. The manure produced by cattle is often used for other purposes.
  3. List and describe one practical application for the manure produced by a feedlot such as those in Greeley, CO.
  4. Describe one negative impact that manure runoff can have on the environment.
  5. Cattle are not the only livestock raised on feedlots. How does the amount of feed and water required to produce 1 kg of beef compare to the amounts needed to produce 1 kg of chicken?
  6. Identify and describe one USDA criterion for livestock to be considered organic.

Industrial agriculture and the proliferation of extensive monocultures have magnified many issues that farmers face.

  1. A vast field of grain is an open invitation to massive pest infestation.
  2. Describe how natural selection may lead to pesticide resistance in a crop pest.
  3. Explain how transgenic organisms may reduce the amount of pesticides and herbicides applied to crops.
  4. Biological control is an alternative to pesticide use.
  1. List and describe an example of successful biological control in eliminating a pest.
  2. List and describe an example of biological control that resulted in negative environmental consequences.
  3. Describe the method of integrated pest management (IPM).
  1. Grain crops such as corn and wheat are wind-pollinated.
  1. Describe the symbiotic relationship between honeybees and orchard flowers such as apple blossoms.
  2. Identify and describe one way that pollinating insect populations may be conserved.
  1. Substantial loss of crop diversity has been observed over the last several decades.
  1. Describe one benefit of high crop diversity.
  2. Describe one method of preserving crop diversity.
  1. List one way that supporting local small-scale farming can be beneficial to the environment.