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This picture briefly provides the main roles that plants, or in this case trees, provide to the environment and society. It shows a natural setting in a way that it is not confusing for readers to read and comprehend. The reader is able to see how trees, or plants, are working naturally in a community without the work of people or assistance. Each text-box summarizes the importance of each item provided in the picture. The text-boxes also provide how trees contribute to society, wildlife, and the enviroment.

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Through this educational video, learning is made fun and interesting. The speaker in the Crash Course video, Hank explains the extremely complex series of reactions whereby plants obtain and feed on sunlight, carbon dioxide and water. With the assistance of animations and Hank explaining the process in terms that beginners can understand, the video makes it easy to learn as he compares the process in everyday situations with everyday vocabulary. The video basically brings a haul of information that the viewers can binge on.

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The Hairy Rattleweed, or its taxonomic name Baptisia arachnifera, is an angiosperm found in only Georgia and no where else in the world. With that being said, it is is an endangered plant species. The flowering plant is part of the legume family.  Its native habitat is limited to sandy soils in pinewoods along the coastal plain of the U.S. state of Georgia.

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Temperate grasslands are the most endangered of the biomes. They are the most altered and yet the least protected biome on the planet. People take advantage of the land for crop production, urbanization, energy and mining development, and intensive grazing. As a result, habitat loss, declining biodiversity, desertification and fragmentation has gown.

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In this chart or diagram, it provides the positive and negative impacts that the Neolithic Revolution had on the human population. Humans learned how to farm and domestic animals. The Neolithic Revolution provided growth in the human population. This lead to food surpluses. People went from hunting and gathering to farming due to new technology and tool inventions.

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The invention of the tractor, in the third agricultural revolution, catapulted the world of nations into a global society. The ability to get deadlines met as well as provide a quick response to rush demand was made possible. Tractors reduced manpower in the fields and created more reliable work machinery, compared to horses. Overall, farm production and food production yields increased. I chose this article as it is easy to understand and appealing to look at. Pictures, charts, timelines, and statistics are provided in order to show and represent easy-access information.

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History of the Tractor

How the Tractor Changed Farming in America

How much thought have you given to the great American tractor? If you have food on your table, you have the tractor to thank for it. While most of us will never see the inner workings of a farm firsthand, we can still appreciate the purpose and power of the tractor that brings America's food supply from farm to table.

Froelich's steam-powered thresher left much to be desired. The machine was cumbersome and difficult to transport. Its basic use was costly, and it was also considerably dangerous-just one spark from the thresher boiler could set fire to a prairie on a windy day.

In 1890, Froelich embarked upon a new design. He and a blacksmith worked side-by-side to mount a one cylinder gasoline engine onto the thresher steam engine's running gear. Froelich was pleased to find that this rudimentary tractor could be drive safely at roughly 3 mph. Froelich and his crew brought the new machine on their annual harvest tour with successful results. The first tractor required only 26 gallons of gas and threshed over 1000 bushels of grain a day without any safety issues.
Froelich expanded to create the Waterloo Gasoline Traction Engine Campany in 1849 with four prototype tractors. Froelich later branched out on his own, while Waterloo continues to produce tractor designs in the early 1900s. Waterloo Tractor Works is now owned by John Deere.

Early Froelich Tractor

Thank goodness for the invention of the tractor. Froelich brought a new working concept into agricultural America. He streamlined tedious processes to save farmers precious time and money spent on unnecessary manual labor.

Froelich was born in Iowa in 1849. Froelich was more than familiar with the American agricultural industry at the turn of the 19th century; he operated a mobile threshing service and grain elevator. He charged farmers a fee to thresh their crops at harvest time with the help of his crew and a steam-powered thresher machine.

Within the first few decades, tractor use was slow to catch on. Yet once farmers realized the benefits that could be had in tractor-driven farming, popularity soared. There was no need for cumbersome manual labor when a simple machine like a tractor could do the job for you. From 1910-1970, tractor production drastically increased from 1000 tractors to nearly 5 million.
Falling prices contributed to tractor to tractor growth. Early tractors cost as much as $785 in 1920. Just two years later in 1922, a tractor could be purchased for only $395. The price dropped by nearly half in just two years, making tractors an affordable piece of agricultural machinery for almost every farmer.

Tractor farming just made sense. Farmers saw
immediate benefits in tractor use, like:

Quick response to rush demand.

Ability to finish work on time to meet a deadline.

Money savings in reduced farm overhead costs.

Dependable daily work machinery, compared to a horse.

Reduced manpower hours in field labor.

Ease in operation-driven by an adolescent, adult, or elderly person.

Promoted recreational farming- gardening and landscaping.

Reduced lengthy work days and cut down on fatigue.

Improved overall farm production.

Rural farming populations decreased as tractor use increased. In the 1940s, tractor use peaked; due to social changes brought on by World War II, farming communities experienced drastic shifts.

At the beginning of the
war, 30 million people
lived on farms with 1.2
million tractors in use.

Tractor use jumped to
4 million by 1950,
while farm populations
dropped to 23 million.

It only takes a quick Google search to confirm the continued popularity of tractors in agriculture today. In the U.S. alone, tractors are searched 5 million times a month.

"Dorothy Bell Belin, daughter and wife of farmers, remembers when her father first bought his tractor for $1000. It was a Farmall, and her father had the support of her mother for this purchase. Bell did not sell his horses but kept them and bought more. Farming was easier with the tractor, but ' it cost money to operate. You had to buy the gasoline. That was a problem.'" - The Tractor Changes Rural Life, Anna Carlson

Based on search popularity, the top tractor
brands in America are ranked as:

John Deere is hands-down the top tractor company in the U.S., established in 1868. In the U.K., John Deere also reigns supreme, followed by Massey Ferguson and Ford. There is strong evidence to suggest that John Deere is the number one global tractor brand today as it also corners the top tractor search results in Australia and Canada.

We've only scratched the surface of American tractor history. Read on to learn more about how tractor development shaped farming in the U.S.

"None of the first tractors had a battery in them," LeRoy says. "You had to crank the Farmall... We had it standing out in the yard there one time. Our boy was about four years old. And I was in the house for something. And all at once the missus says, 'You know, the tractor is running.' And the boy come in the house, never said a word... He just took a hold of that crank and turned it one notch. Everything was just right, and it started."

- Farming in the 1930s, livinghistoryfarm.org

1837

Tractor pioneer John Deere created the first self-cleaning plow made from an old saw; John Deere began mass-producing his newly popular saws instead of making them on-demand, a customary practice for blacksmiths at the time.

1890John Froelich introduced the first gas powered tractor to the farming industry.

1913

The Bull Tractor Company introduced the first tractor manufactured for small farmers. Standard features included a single "bull" wheel, a two-cylinder 12 hp engine, and a cone clutch instead of a transmission gearbox.

1934

John Deere was able to survive the Great Depression by focusing on product development; Model A and Model B tractors remained the most popular Deere models in company history, produced until 1952. Caterpillar Inc. also experienced growth through the Great Depression.

1959

John Deere successfully produced over 1.25 million two-cylinder tractors; from that point forward, John Deere manufactured four- and six-cylinder engine tractors.

1960Four-wheel-drive tractors were introduced within the decade. Caterpillar expanded to manufacture in Brazil, which continues to the present day.

1963

The best-selling John Deere tractor of all time, the John Deere 4020, hit the market. Farmalls remained the top selling row-crop tractors until 1963.

1966

John Deere surpassed $1 billion in sales for the first time. In the same year, the DICKEY-john Manufacturing Company electronic monitoring device for farmers launched to improve crop planting efficiency by monitoring seed numbers and spacing.

1973

John Deere sales hit $2 billion.

2000

John Deere updated the company tractor name and numbering system to display engine horsepower in each model number; example: John Deere 2010 8R/8 RT.

Industry experts endorsed the transition to driverless tractors in the near future. Major manufacturers, including John Deere, supported developments in autonomous machinery design.

Modern farmers still can't live without heavy-duty tractor machinery. Tractors continue to streamline rigorous farming processes to cut down on overhead and improve productivity. As we anticipate new innovations, the future looks bright for the agricultural industry indeed.

In 2012, the idea of the self-driving tractor launched.

While self-driving cars have yet to hit city streets, self-driving tractor technology makes even more sense to automate farming processes and save time and money. The Autonomous Tractor Company invented a self-driving tractor as a brand-new agricultural system; instead of updating clunky farm machinery, the company reinvented the wheel in an entirely new autonomous tractor model. The one-of-a-kind tractor was unveiled at a farm machinery show in 2012.

The autonomous tractor is only one piece of the puzzle in impressive, modern-day tractor technology.

Other top tractor innovations to improve American farming include:

Tractor sales have yet to slump.

With the latest agricultural technologies and innovations hitting the market year after year, tractor use is multipurpose and widespread. U.S. farm tractor sales hit a five-year high in 2013, according to the Association of Equipment Manufacturers. 24,171 farm tractors were sold in May 2013.

We can attribute the success of the agricultural industry and the slowly growing American economy to the pride tractor manufacturers take in their craftsmanship. As the man behind the industry's leading tractor brand stated so eloquently:

I will never put my name on a product that does not have in it the best that is in me. - John Deere

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History Of The Tractor - How It Changed Farming

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History of the Tractor How the Tractor Changed Farming in America How much thought have you given to the great American tractor? If you have food on your table, you have the tractor to thank for it. While most of us will never see the inner workings of a farm firsthand, we can still appreciate ...

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The most influential chemical used in the world that is derived from a plants is caffeine. As the article explains, "caffeine is found in multiple plants and is used in many medicinal and every day products." It is used for treating fatigue and migraines. Since 3000 BCE, it has been a use for providing energy to people through the source of drinks and foods.  I chose caffeine due to my personal experience with it through drinking tea. I believe caffeine to be the most common, daily factor in people routines and diets through sources such as teas and coffees. It is the most relatable source of chemical use by people that has derived from plants.

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Today there are at least 120 important drugs derived from plants in use in one or more countries in the world. Discover some of the common drugs and medications which are derived from plants.

Caffeine - used to treat fatigue and migraines - Coffee beans, tea leaves, cacao pods, kola nuts and garana

Caffeine is found in multiple plants and is used in many medicinal and every day products. According to Chinese legend, the Chinese emperor Shennong discovered the curative powers of caffeine when he realised dropping tea leaves into boiling water created a restorative drink in around 3000 BCE. Kola nuts were traditionally chewed in West African cultures to reduce the feeling of hunger and increase energy. Cacao pod residue was first found in an ancient Mayan pot, whilst chocolate derived from cacao beans was also use to create a spicy drink called xocolatl which fought fatigue.

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The first people to harvest coffee beans for their energising properties were the Ethiopian ancestors of the Oromo people, but caffeine wasn't isolated from coffee beans until 1819 when a German chemist, Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge, researched the plant. Caffeine today is used to relieve the symptoms of a migraine, but most commonly is still enjoyed as an energising ingredient in food and drinks (who doesn't need a cuppa on a Monday morning?)

Aspirin - used for pain relief and anti-clotting - Willow Bark ( Salix)

Salicylic acid, which is a key component of aspirin, was first described by the father of medicine Hippocrates who referred to a white powder derived from willow bark which alleviated the symptoms of aches, pains and fevers. In 1763, Edward Stone at Oxford was the first chemist to isolate the active ingredient and it has since been used in medicine both for it's analgesic and anti-clotting properties.

There are many different varieties of willow tree and the bark of each carries a different potency of salicylic acid. Aspirin is created by a chemical reaction between salicylic acid and acetic acid, which is the main component of vinegar apart from water.

Cocaine - used for anaesthesia and illegal recreation - Coca plant ( E rythroxylon coca)

Cocaine was first discovered by the ancient Incas in the Andes, South America, when the leaves of the Coca plant were chewed. The Incas believed it gave them energy and strength but when the Spanish colonised the Americas they declared the practice of chewing was in the work of the Devil. However, after realising the claims of the Incas were true, the Spanish legalised chewing and taxed the leaf, taking a 10% cut from each crop.

Cocaine was first isolated from the leaf of the Coca plant when it was successfully transported from the Americas to Germany where chemist Friedrich Gaedcke extracted the alkaloid erythroxyline. The purification process gradually improved over the years until cocaine became used an an anaesthetic, as studies on frogs revealed the drug reduced sensation. The drug is still used medicinally but is also now one of the most popular recreational drugs, with London being the cocaine capital of Europe.

Digitalis - used to treat arrhythmia - Foxglove ( Digitalis purpurea)

Digitalis, or digoxin, was discovered in 1775 by Scottish doctor William Withering when a dying patient of his sought alternative treatment from a local gypsy and got better. William Withering realised the gypsy had used a herbal remedy containing a variety of components including foxglove, and extracted the active ingredient digitalis.

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5 Drugs Derived From Plants - The English Garden

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Caffeine - used to treat fatigue and migraines - Coffee beans, tea leaves, cacao pods, kola nuts and garana Caffeine is found in multiple plants and is used in many medicinal and every day products.

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In the future, year of 2050, the world, unchecked, would find farming basically farming itself. There would be solar panels providing power to anything and everything. Farms would use these solar panels to house power for utilities and machinery. I chose this picture because it shows the land being spared of its trees and soil nutrients, but they are both limited. Trees would be limited due to deforestation.