Corn Differences

Refer to the data on the corn kernel color frequency from Part III of the lab. (Remember there were four possible types for this part of the lab.)

Keeping in mind your answer to the previous question, what do you believe caused the corn plants to wilt and eventually die?

Fitness is determined by the ability of an organism to survive, grow, and reproduce in a particular habitat. You

Hypothesis: I think that the potato will absorb more starch than the sweet potato and they will both absorb relatively similar amounts of water.

Southern cornbread was cooked with the fat of pigs and was considerably less sweet. The climate in which the corn was grown to make corn bread also changed the appearance of the dish. Although the taste of the corn remained the same, the appearance of corn could be quite drastic in different regions. Yellow corn was prevalent in the northern colonies, white corn was seen in the southern colonies, and blue and red corn was typical to the dryer southwest.

The second step of the experiment was to soak the seeds in water overnight. This action was made to prepare the seeds for germination and making them more softer and less rigid. The seeds were placed in a bowl and were covered by tin foil. It was set up on the refrigerator to minimize any outside interference that may come to it. After a full night of absorbing the water, the seeds were ready to start the next stage.

Matured popcorn kernels are made up of protein, oils, and carbohydrates. The percentage of each of these components varies from kernel to kernel based on its genetics and growing environment. Compared to normal corn, popcorn typically has similar starch and oil contents but higher protein content. Also, the starch found in popcorn tends to have lower gelatinization temperatures, peak temperatures, and pasting temperatures than normal corn starch. All of these differences allow the popcorn to pop to 30 times the volume of the original kernel (Sweley, Rose, Jackson, 2013). These percentages also vary depend on how the kernel is

The glume is a lid-shaped leaf that grows up from the stem and covers the cupule. In maize, the cupule and the glume are greatly reduced resulting in the fruit that is easy to grind and eat. Teosinte and maize do not only differ from one another by physical comparison but also by how each reproduces. It is important to know that a kernel is a dry fruit that contains a single seed inside. In teosinte, the kernels can be easily separated from the plant by means of wind or other forms of weather and this can cause the seeds to scatter and therefore result in the development of new teosinte plants. Whereas, with maize, the seeds are incased in the fruit just like teosinte, however the seeds cannot easily separate from the cob (the stem on which the fruits are produced). In addition, each ear of corn in enclosed in husks which are more modified leaves, trapping the kernels inside. Therefore the reproduction of modern corn is completely dependent on people.

Although cows were evolved to survive on grass; we are feeding them corn for the benefit of the American consumers. After six months calves are weaned off tall grass, put into pens and taught how to eat corn. While this does not make sense on an environmental viewpoint, economically it does as a corn fed cow will grow and produce more quickly.

To really understand how corn became a staple of American agriculture we must go back to the beginning. As America emerged victoriously from World War 2, they possessed an extremely large quantity of ammonium nitrate, a key component of conventional bombs, and decided to use the chemical as fertilizer for corn production (Pollan). The government chose corn as their crop due to its versatility and many uses; its versatility is

The introduction of chemical fertilizers and other technological inputs created a surplus of corn on American farmland. In the early 1900’s farmers were only able to grow small bushels of corn but today there is an excess amount. Although such an overabundance represented a great achievement in American agriculture, the excess corn needed some use and one way to reduce overage is to feed it to farm animals; especially cows. Corn does not require a lot of space to store and it is extremely easy to collectively feed a considerable number of cows. Feeding cows low-priced corn as required by the Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation’s “CAFO” is economically efficient and enables the production of large quantities of marbled meat that was once a luxury for many Americans. However, even though feeding corn to cattle helps in the process of fattening cows for slaughter, it also produces many health risks that the United States Department of Agriculture “USDA” overlooks in their effort to help eliminate the corn surplus, and bring rapid profit to the few corporations that run the meat

Explain: Corn is a C4 plant because it is a plant that needs and produces CO2 into four sugar compounds that enter the Calvin cycle.

It was observed that the younger 6-week-old corn leaves produced more oxygen than the 12-week-old corn leaves. This may be from oxidative stress, or anoxia (the absence of oxygen) can result from aging cells, which means it is possible the older 12-week-old corn leaves were exposed to more UV stress, pathogen invasion, herbicide action, and oxygen shortage than younger plants (Blokhina et al. 2003). These are all common environmental factors most corn plants face throughout their life. Oxygen deprivation in plant cells could be a natural process that occurs as the corn ages due to exposure to ecological phenomenon. These influences might cause cell functions to weaken and eventually perish, which are perhaps attributable to an organism’s genetics

Corn is the most productive product in the world. Corn is the best kind of crop that grows. The corn that has a dent in it is used to make toothpaste, chips, and ice cream. To keep enough corn farmers grew 93.6 acres of corn. Corn has 3 key components the germ, endosperm, and pericarp. We turn corn into glucose with is a main building block in our body. Corn is not a vegetable, it is a grass.

contributed to global agricultural productivity during the last century (Khush 2001; Duvick 2005). This approach known as ideotype breeding involves the creation of a model plant with characteristics that facilitate efficient photosynthesis, growth, and yield (grain and biomass)(Donald 1968; Hammer et al. 2009). In cereals, ideotypes include erect leaves, compact stalks, large inflorescence (ear, panicle or head), compact or loose inflorescence, and reduced height. Ideotype breeding also contributed to increased yield potential in maize, rice, and wheat during the green revolution (Khush 2001). Increased grain yield in U.S corn has been attributed to adaptation of maize hybrids to high planting densities through erect leaves (Duvick 2005;