Plants and man: general information. The role of plants in nature and human life

12.06.2019

Man has long used a significant number wild plants. They brought him wood for fires; served as material for the construction of dwellings and pens for animals; man made fishing tackle and hunting tools from plants; built boats and rafts, weaved mats and baskets, prepared various household and ritual decorations; fed plants to animals and birds, dug up roots and harvested fruits for food and medicine. A man took refuge in the forests from bad weather, hid from enemies and predatory animals. In a word, the whole life of primitive man was connected with plants. And the more diverse was the world of plants that surrounded man, the more widely he used plant riches for his needs.

Subsequently, when a person began to grow some of the plants useful to him near his dwellings, that is, he began to engage in agriculture, he laid the foundations of plant growing, although he continued to use the gifts of wild nature.

At present, mankind continues to widely use plants for their needs. At the same time, the natural vegetation cover is gradually changing. Forest areas are decreasing, treeless spaces are increasing, some plants that were once widespread on Earth are disappearing and not being restored. Although this process of destruction of the original natural vegetation is gradually progressing, nevertheless, there are still many plant species that continue to be of great economic importance for human life.

On the the globe grows about 300 - 500 thousand higher plants and many lower ones. Of this number, in plant growing practice, a person uses over 2500 species of higher plants. However, as noted by N. I. Vavilov, 99% of the entire cultivated area is occupied by only about 1000 species.

With the development of agriculture, the areas occupied by cultivated (and domesticated) plants are continuously growing. However, the global stock of cultivated plants remains constant. Besides cultivated plants, man uses many wild, mainly woody, plants, as well as a variety of perennial herbaceous species. A significant number of wild plants found in forests or living in treeless spaces (in the tundra, meadows, steppes, prairies, savannahs) are used by humans for other purposes. He uses juicy fruits and nuts to get food products, extracts essential oils and various fragrant substances, obtains coarse and fine fiber from leaves and stems, produces tapping for the extraction of rubber, gums and resins, collects raw materials used to obtain various medicinal substances.

The countries with a tropical climate are richest in useful plants. The least of them grows at the extreme limits of the continents adjacent to the poles of the Earth: there are only 400 - 450 species. The entire vegetation cover of our planet can be conditionally divided into areas covered with forests and treeless spaces. Forests on the globe, occupying over 4000 million hectares and concentrated mainly in the northern hemisphere, have the largest number useful plants(map 5).

A significant number of plant species used by man live in arid (forestless) territories: in the steppes and prairies, savannahs and semi-deserts, as well as in thickets of various shrubs. Treeless spaces are also characteristic of the arctic tundra and high mountains. And here there are various types of useful plants that find practical use in human life (Map 6).

Depending on how wild useful plants are used, they can be divided into the following main groups:

1) plants that produce wood (firewood, lumber, lashing timber, poles, sleepers, piles, plywood, wood shavings, etc.);

2) plants that serve to obtain a variety of substances used in various industries and in medicine;

3) plants used to obtain fresh and canned food products;

4) plants that produce fresh and processed green mass used for animal feed;

5) plants used for decorative and landscaping purposes, as well as for creating protective soil coverings;

6) plants that find complex use depending on their inherent properties and characteristics.

Different plants are used either whole or in parts: trunks of trees and shrubs and their bark, roots and rhizomes, tubers and bulbs, stems and leaves, flowers and inflorescences, fruits and seeds, galls on leaves and growths on trunks (caps), pollen and spores, juice and various secretions (stains of resins, gums, etc.). It is very difficult to list all the fields of application of plants, but we can talk about medicinal and industrial, food and fodder, rubber and gutta-percha, mucilaginous and gum-bearing, fatty and essential oil, tanning and dyeing, fibrous and braided, etc.

Many areas of application of plants gradually change or lose their significance over time and in connection with the development of technology and industry. For example, in connection with the production of many cheaper synthetic materials (artificial rubber, synthetic resins, artificial fibers, etc.), a part of useful plants either ceased to interest man at all, or received a new application.

Among the wild useful plants of the world, the most important are various tree species (maps 7 and 8), the wood of which is used in ever-increasing amounts in many sectors of the economy. The countries of the northern hemisphere produce mainly coniferous wood, and the southern hemisphere - hardwood.

The most economically important conifers (Map 9) are a variety of spruce species that often form forests. This is a common spruce (Picea abies), common in Scandinavia, Northern Europe, the European part of the USSR and Siberia; Sitka spruce (P. sitchensis), found in Canada and the USA (in Alaska); white spruce (P. canadensis) and red spruce (P. rubra), characteristic of Canada and the USA; black spruce (P. mariana), available in Alaska. The second place is occupied by pines. Of these, it is necessary to note the ordinary pine (Pinus sylvestris), common in the north of Western Europe, in the European part of the USSR and Siberia; Banks' pine (P. banksiana), which forms forests in Canada and the USA; yellow pine (P. ponderosa), typical of the USA; cedar pine (P. sibirica), which forms the basis of the so-called cedar forests in Siberia, and others.

To obtain wood for various purposes, larch species are used (Map 10): European larch (Larix decidua), whose range is located in Europe; American larch (L. americana), living in Canada and the USA; Siberian larch (L. sibirica), distributed mainly in Siberia; Dahurian larch (L. daurica) and other species of this genus. Fir species are also of some economic importance: balsam fir (Abies balsamea), growing in Canada; Siberian fir (A. sibirica), which forms forests in Siberia, Altai and Sayan Mountains, as well as other species.

Other conifers include western hemlock, or hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla), Canadian hemlock (T. canadensis), mountain hemlock (T. mertensiana), common in Canada and the USA (in Alaska); pseudo-tsugu yew (Pseudotsuga taxifolia), characteristic of Canada and the USA; sequoia (Sequoia sempervirens), introduced in the USA, and nootkaensis cypress (Chamaecyparis nootkaensis), found in Canada. Of the conifers, whose distribution areas are located to the south, one can indicate a number of pines that form forests in the south of Central America (Pinus palustris, P. virginiana), in Southern Europe (P. cembra, P. pinaster, P. pinea, etc.), and also found in Cuba (P. caribaea), in Asia Minor (P. halepensis), etc.

Nordmann fir (Abies nordmanniana), which lives in the Caucasus, is also of economic importance; the Lebanese cedar (Cedrus libani), which forms forests in the mountains of Lebanon; Himalayan cedar (C. deodara), characteristic of the Himalayas; lanceolate cunninghamia (Cunninghamia lanceolata), found in East Asia; juniper species (Juniperus), which form predominantly sparse-stemmed forests in the Caucasus, southern Europe and in the countries of Central and Western Asia, as well as many other tree species.

Along with conifers, a variety of hardwoods provide practically valuable wood. These are suppliers of soft and hard, painted and colored, heavy and light wood.

From hardwood woody plants, having the greatest value, we note the various types of oak: English oak (Quercus robur), characteristic of European countries (Map 11); red oak (Q. rubra), found in the USA; white oak (Q. alba) and chestnut oak (Q. prinos), common in the USA; chestnut-leaved oak (Q. castaneifolia), living in the Talysh mountains (Southern Transcaucasia) and on the slopes of Elburz (Iran); Georgian oak (Q. iberica), characteristic of Transcaucasia, and many other species of this genus.

In addition to oaks, species of beech (Fagus), ash (Fraxinus), linden (Tilia), maple (Acer), birch (Betula) and others are of practical importance.

In world trade, a variety of painted woods are in great demand for furniture and decorative plywood. This is a mahogany, for example, mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla), mined in South America; green tree (Ocotea roiaci), also found in South America; ebony (species of the genus Diospyros) supplied by countries in Africa and East Asia; teak tree (Tectona grandis) - an inhabitant of the tropical forests of East Asia, etc.

Of the woods with high hardness, various varieties of ironwood should be noted, for example, the wood of the Persian parrotia (Parrotia persica), which forms forests in Talysh and on the slopes of the Elburs ridge (Iran). Phoebe porosa, which grows in Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay, and boxwood (Buxus sempervirens), which grows in southern Europe, North Africa, and the Caucasus, provide hardwood (Map 12). Boxwood wood is used for a variety of handicrafts and is known as the "Caucasian palm". One of the lightest woods is balsa (Ochroma lagopus), found, for example, in Mexico and Bolivia. Balsa wood served T. Heyerdahl for the manufacture of the Kon-Tiki raft.

Many of the listed coniferous and deciduous trees are not only used for harvesting construction and ornamental wood, but also serve as sources for obtaining various other products and substances. From conifers, wood and paper pulp, cellulose, artificial wool are obtained; from hardwoods - cork, rubber and gutta-percha, resins and gums, essential and fatty oils, organic acids and sugar, tanning extracts and coloring pigments, etc. The best cork is obtained from cork oak (Quercus suber), which forms forests in the Mediterranean countries and cultivated in a number of countries in Europe and North Africa. Cork is also produced by the velvet tree (Phellodendron amurense), common in the forests of the Far East and Northeast China; kielmeyera (Kielmeyera coriacea), living in Brazil (Amazon basin), etc.

The best known rubber-bearing plants are the Brazilian hevea (Hevea brasiliensis), which grows in the tropical forests of Brazil and is widely cultivated in a number of countries in the tropical zone of the world; castilloa, or rubber (Castilloa), originating from South America, the rubber of which was used to impregnate raincoats in Brazil, Ecuador and Peru; balata (Manilkora sp.), growing in Colombia and Venezuela and serving as a source of special rubber; various ficuses (species of the genus Ficus) living in a number of tropical countries of the world; gutta-percha tree (Eucommia ulmoides) native to East Asia (China); species of spindle tree (Euonymus) from Europe, which produced gutta-percha, now replaced by synthetic plastic substances, etc.

To obtain valuable resins that are widely used in the production of varnishes, the copal tree (Copaifera demensei) is used, which gives copal; callitris, or sandarak tree (Callitris guadrivalvis), living in the forests of Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco and producing sandarak; hymenea (Hymenaea courbaril), common in Brazil and Venezuela, from the bark of which, like Copaifera, copal resin is obtained; Shorea, or sal (Shorea robusta), which forms island forests in India and gives valuable resin, etc.

The most important gum-bearing plants are tragacanth astragalus (genus Astragalus from the section Tragacantha), which form tragacanth plants in a number of countries of Central and Western Asia, as well as on the Balkan Peninsula. The most valuable tragacanth gum is considered to be a product obtained in Iran, Syria and Turkey and serving as an export item. Gum is also produced by many fruit trees (cherry, plum, apricot, peach), sucker (Elaeagnus), etc. Gum-like substances are also obtained from some seaweeds.

Many wild plants serve as a source of a variety of fragrant substances that are used as raw materials in the manufacture of soaps, perfumes, as well as products used in the food industry and medicine. The most valuable of them (except for the cultivated pink geranium, Kazan-Lik rose, clary sage, lemongrass, etc.) are numerous species of the families Umbelliferae, Labiaceae, Compositae (wormwood), etc., growing in different parts of the Earth.

Fatty (food and technical) oils are widely used throughout the world. The main wild fatty plants include many coniferous, oil-rich seeds (nuts) of which are produced by various cedar pines (Pinus sibirica, P. koraiensis and P. cembra, P. pinea); fruit olive tree(Olea europaea), whose range is associated with the countries of the Mediterranean (Map 13). Fatty oils are also extracted from walnut(Juglans regia), growing wild in Central Asia, the Caucasus, as well as from other species of this genus living in the countries of East Asia, Central and South America. A valuable edible oil is obtained from the Brazil nut (Bertoletia excelsa), found in the forests of Brazil; "paradise nut" (Lecythis sp.), common in Brazil and Guiana; cariocar, or pequia (Caryocar sp.), growing in Brazil; oil palm (Elaeis guinensis), which grows wild in Tropical Africa and is cultivated in many countries of the world, and many other plants. The best technical oil is obtained from tung (Aleurites cordata and A. fordii), which grows wild in East Asia (China, Japan).

A very valuable raw material used in the tanning and extract industry is obtained from the bark and wood of many oaks (Quercus), the bark of common spruce and willow (Salix), as well as from the roots of some herbaceous perennial plants (Polygonum coriarium, P. alpinum, etc.) , forming thickets in the mountains of Central Asia and partly Europe. Divi-divi beans (Dibidibia coriaria), common in Colombia and Venezuela, serve as tanning raw materials of world importance; white quebracho, or quebracho (Aspidosperma quebracho blanko), growing in Brazil; red quebracho (Schinopsis sp.), found in Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil and Bolivia; black mangrove (Avicennia marina), found in the mangroves of South America; red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle), which forms mangroves in a number of tropical countries of the world; eucalyptus species (Eucalyptus), predominantly large trees that make up the forests of Australia; Australian acacias (Acacia), the bark of which contains many tannins; walloon oak (Quercus aegylops), found in the countries of Western Asia, North Africa and Southern Europe and providing valuable tanning raw materials.

Tanning plants are adjacent to dyeing plants, which continue to be of some economic importance. Of these, we will name the log tree (Haematoxylon campechianum), which grows in Central America and the Antilles; dye chlorophore (Chlorophora tictoria), which is found in South America; braziletto (Quilandina), living in the forests of Brazil; indigo (Indigofera tinctoria), found only in culture in Italy, India, Sri Lanka, China and Indo-China, as well as in Egypt and South America. Many dyeing plants were once used in carpet production in Iran, Afghanistan, and also in Transcaucasia. Of the food dye plants, it is necessary to mention annatto (Bixa orellana) and turmeric (Curcuma).

Of great importance for practice are various medicinal plants used in European, American and Oriental medicine. The history of their use dates back 5-7 thousand years, and the number of species used reaches 12 thousand. Of the most important, we mention the cinchona tree (Cinchona succirubra), which grows wild in Brazil; ginseng (Panax gunseng), growing in the forests of the Far East and in China; serpentine rauwolfia (Rauvolfia serpentina), characteristic of the undergrowth of the tropical forests of East Asia; pilocarpus (Pilocarpus pennatifolius), common in the forests of South America; belladonna, or belladonna (Atropa belladonna), found in the forests of Europe, in Asia Minor, in the Caucasus; licorice (species of the genus Glycyrrhiza), which forms thickets in Central Asia, the Caucasus, the European part of the USSR, Siberia and other places; lily of the valley (Convallaria majalis), growing in the forests of Europe, the European part of the USSR (Map 15); Adonis (Adonis vernalis), growing in the steppe zone of Europe and the European part of the USSR (Map 14), etc.

In addition to the listed plants that are of economic importance in a number of countries of the world, we will mention fibrous plants (for example, Agave sisalana), wicker plants (various bamboos), insecticidal, food, spicy-aromatic, fodder, melliferous, as well as decorative (park, garden and indoor plants). ), ground covers, etc.

All these plants, together with the main cultivated and cultivated species, constitute the plant wealth of the world flora.

§ 50. HOW PEOPLE USE PLANTS

Which plant organs need mechanical tissues the most? Which plant organs store nutrients?
What happens during the year with tubers, bulbs and rhizomes?
Under what circumstances are nutrients consumed from different plant organs? How are grains, apples, carrots, cabbage stored?

Lena: People have learned how to make artificial substances. It turns out that plants are now not really needed by us.
Biologist: No matter what synthetic materials people learn to make, they will always need durable wood, and without plant foods from carbohydrates and fats, we are unlikely to learn to do. And plants provide us with oxygen on Earth.

Seeds - nutrient concentrate in safe packaging
Seeds should be light, but with a large supply of all the necessary nutrients. Therefore, in mature seeds there is little water, but there are a variety of nutrients - fats, proteins, starch. The seeds of some plants contain more proteins (peas, beans, beans, soybeans), others - fats (sunflower, flax, mustard), others - carbohydrates (rice). The seeds of many plants contain a lot of both proteins and carbohydrates (buckwheat, oats, wheat). Seeds are storable and are easiest for humans to store long time just the seeds.

100 grams of seeds contains:

Underground organs - canned food with a shelf life of a school year
In autumn and winter, underground shoots and roots survive underground, and in the spring they spend nutrients on the rapid formation of new shoots and flowers.
Potatoes, carrots, beets, radishes, onion and garlic in a dry, cool and dark place, in bulk, in boxes or in the sand, retain nutrients until spring, and then begin to germinate - therefore, unlike seeds, they cannot be stored for several years.

Different fruits in natural conditions persist for different terms
In the resettlement of plants, fruits participate in different ways. Some fall immediately after maturation, others dry on the branches and attract animals for a long time. People breed varieties of plants from. extended shelf life of fruits and create special storage conditions for them. Often people pick fruits unripe - such fruits last longer, but their aroma is not so strong.

Edible leaves usually do not lie long
People use for food plates and petioles of the leaves of many plants - lettuce, onions, parsley, cabbage, rhubarb. A person does not digest cell walls, there are no reserve substances in the leaves of greenery, and a person assimilates only the substances of the cytoplasm of living cells.
With rare exceptions, leaves are not designed to store nutrients; leaves are actively working organs that quickly wither after cutting. Only the leaves of cultivars of cabbage are stored in the cellars until spring.

Sometimes flowers of plants are also eaten.
A powerful flow of nutrients enters the ripening flowers, and it would seem that the inflorescences should be one of the products of agriculture - however, apart from unripe cauliflower inflorescences, no flowers are used in Russia for food.

Wood - building material
The main purpose of wood in a plant is to serve as a support. For this purpose, wood is also used by people.
Lignin-impregnated xylem cells are as strong as steel. The combination of tubes and fibers in wood makes it a strong, lightweight, resilient material. Hundreds of types of wood are used in the world, differing in specific weight, ability to transmit heat.
Unfortunately, a significant part of the trees cut down on all continents are burned in stoves, heating a home or warming food.

Paper - cell wall material
Cellulose fibers are used to make paper, cardboard, fibreboard. These fibers in the old days were obtained only from dilapidated fabrics, and now - mainly from trees. In principle, paper can be made from any plant by separating cellulose from other substances and bleaching it. But the best raw materials for this are the long tracheids of conifers.

Bast - a source of fibers
Many plants contain long thin cells - supporting (bast) fibers. With the help of bacteria, people release these fibers from other cells and spin threads from them. In Russia, the main source of such fibers is flax; earlier threads were also made from hemp and nettle.

Cork fabric - valuable technical material
In the bark of many trees there is cork tissue - a loose tissue of cells with walls impregnated with a water-repellent substance.
An inhabitant of the subtropical zone, the cork oak, grows layers of cork tissue several centimeters thick. Such a layer of cork saves the tree from a fire, since the cork does not burn and does not conduct heat well. This fabric can be cut without harm to the tree. Cork is used to make bottle caps and facing tiles - light, resilient, impervious to water and air.

Substances with which plants lure pollinators or repel enemies are used by people as spices or medicines.
Many plants contain substances that are poisonous to insects or fungi - bitter, with a strong odor or tasteless. The flowers of many insect pollinating plants contain aromatic substances that attract pollinators. The value of these substances for a person is greater than food. From these substances, people make medicines, perfumes and insecticides (substances that destroy insects in the fields and in dwellings).

Nectar and honey
Humans cannot collect the nectar of flowers, but bees do the job. They not only collect nectar, but also thicken it and subject it to special processing, as a result of which an extraordinary useful product- honey.

Group of 3b grade students

The project is a modern and effective form of education that allows to form a set of universal educational activities that are necessary not only for a modern student, but also for an adult. A study and research project is what we do in the framework of the course "I am a researcher" from the 1st grade. in front of you is one such project.

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Municipal budgetary educational institution

"Secondary school No. 24"

Municipal Formation "Mirninsky District"

Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)

Competition of school research projects "Step into the Future"

Teaching and research project

Working group : Ryabukhin A., Rudenko K.,

Karpenko T., Boldokhonova K.,

Gobeeva M., Cherepukha A.,

Kulaychuk T., Lapiy A.,

Semenov D., Musina P.

Speaker : Ryabukhin A.

Head: Garkavaya E.Yu.

I Introduction

Why did we choose this topic? It seems that there is nothing new to tell about the role of plants in the life of our planet? We just finished studying the theme of the world around "This amazing nature" and it became interesting to us how much we still do not know about plants and what the children of the 3rd and 4th grades of our school know about their importance in life. And yet, we decided to check how knowledge about the role of plants in human life and his attitude towards them are connected.

Problem: every year students elementary school break branches and bushes in the school yard.

Hypothesis: If elementary school students really knew and understood the role and importance of plants in people's lives, they would have a different attitude towards plants in the school yard.

Objective of the project : search for ways to develop a responsible and careful attitude of younger students to nature; formation of ideas about conducting scientific research.

Project objectives:

1. Master the methods of research (survey, processing and analysis of the data obtained).

2. Learn to build diagrams.

3. Learn to collect information on the topic and arrange it.

4. Prepare information for a conversation with primary school students.

Stages of work on the project:

1. Preparatory(choosing a topic; defining goals and objectives; conducting a survey)

2. Analytical (processing survey results; plotting diagrams; conclusions)

3. Informational (collection of information about the meaning and role of plants in human life)

4. Final (design of research materials; presentations).

II. Study

How often do we think about how rich nature has endowed us? Each of us uses this wealth without hesitation.

We decided to start our study with a survey of students in grades 3-4. Our research group divided into two people and interviewed the guys in the classes. We asked only one question: "Why do people need plants." The answer was asked to be written down.

The question assumed that in their answers the guys would remember not only that we breathe air, but also what they produce from them, and what role they play on the planet as a whole, because everything in the world is connected.

After conducting a survey, we processed and summarized similar answers, entered the results into a table:

meaning	classes	total
meaning		total
Breath
beauty
Food
Medications
Building
Paper
Furniture
Textile
Food and housing for animals
ecological balance
Incomprehensible answers

As can be seen from the table, most of the responses relate to "breathing" (114 responses). That is, the fact that plants are a source of oxygen necessary for respiration is well understood by everyone.

The second most popular answer is “beauty” (56 answers). Some people remember that we use plants for food (33 answers) and for medicinal purposes (27 answers).

Few people remembered that plants are used to produce paper, fabric and make furniture (11 answers for three positions in total).

Still, 7 students remembered that plants are a source of food and shelter for animals, and 6 that plants provide ecological balance. But this is very little, in our opinion.

Based on the results of the study, we compiled diagrams by dividing the results of a survey of students in grades 3 and 4.

As follows from the diagram, out of 10 points of the possible use of plants that the guys remembered in their answers, students in grades 3a, 3c and 4c named 5 ways each; 4a - 7; 4b, 8; 3b - 10. In our class, all methods were mentioned due to the fact that some classmates participated in research work.

conclusions

1. We do not live in places with a tropical climate, the flora of the tundra is poor and very vulnerable, which means that it needs special care. There are few plants here and they grow very slowly.

2. Understanding what plants provide for us fresh air, we do not understand that if we do not take care of them, we can be left without air.

3. Putting the ability of plants to decorate our lives in second place, we do not care about our schoolyard being beautiful.

4. Judging by the answers, we do not really imagine that the presence of rich and diverse vegetation on the planet ensures the ecological balance of the planet.

The results obtained confirm our hypothesis that the guys, despite the fact that in the lessons of the world around us from the first grade we talk about the importance of nature protection, we make reports about rare and extinct plants and animals, this knowledge does not touch us and is not used by us in relation to the surrounding world. And, therefore, there is a need to return to this topic once again, to find out where plants are used, to assess their importance and indispensability, to study the history of the issue of their protection.

III. Overview of sources of information on the use of plants

Man has long used a significant number of wild plants. They:

Delivered him firewood for fires;

They served as material for the construction of dwellings and pens for animals;

From plants, man made fishing tackle and hunting tools;

He built boats and rafts, wove mats and baskets,

Prepared various household and ritual decorations;

Feeding animals and birds with plants

He dug up the roots and harvested the fruits for food and medicine,

A man took refuge in the forests from bad weather, hid from enemies and predatory animals.

In a word, the whole life of primitive man was connected with plants. And the more diverse was the world of plants that surrounded man, the more widely he used plant riches for his needs.

About 300-500 thousand higher plants and many lower ones grow on the globe. Of this number, in plant growing practice, a person uses over 2500 species of higher plants. However, as noted by N. I. Vavilov, 99% of the entire cultivated area is occupied by only about 1000 species.

In addition to cultivated plants, man uses many wild, mainly woody, plants, as well as various perennial herbaceous species. A significant number of wild plants found in forests or living in treeless spaces (in the tundra, meadows, steppes, prairies, savannahs) are used by humans for other purposes. He uses juicy fruits and nuts to obtain food, extracts essential oils and various fragrant substances, obtains coarse and fine fibers from leaves and stems, produces tapping for the extraction of rubber, gums and resins, and collects raw materials that serve to obtain various medicinal substances.

The countries with a tropical climate are richest in useful plants. They grow least of all at the extreme limits of the continents adjacent to the poles of the Earth: there are only 400-450 species here.

The entire vegetation cover of our planet can be conditionally divided into areas covered with forests and treeless spaces. Forests on the globe, occupying over 4,000 million hectares and concentrated mainly in the northern hemisphere, have the largest number of useful plants.

Depending on how wild useful plants are used, they can be divided into the following main groups:

1) plants that produce wood (firewood, lumber, lashing timber, poles, sleepers, piles, plywood, wood shavings, etc.);

2) plants that serve to obtain a variety of substances used in various industries and in medicine;

3) plants used to obtain fresh and canned food products;

4) plants that produce fresh and processed green mass used for animal feed;

5) plants used for decorative and landscaping purposes, as well as for creating protective soil coverings;

6) plants that find complex use depending on their inherent properties and characteristics.

Plants are the main source of pet food, fiber, rubber, gutta-percha, cork. A person receives bread, sugar, fruits, vegetables, tea, coffee, wine, as well as milk, butter, cheese, eggs, honey from cultivated plants, because animal products are the result of processing plants. Furniture, clothes, books, writing paper are made from plant materials. On the basis of the study of the properties of dicotyledonous and monocotyledonous plants, the development of mankind takes place. It is difficult to imagine a high level of material well-being of a person if he had to be content with only conifers, ferns, horsetails and mosses. Even livestock do not eat these plants.

Nature, as it were, “prepared” a vast arena for man in advance for his work and development: he found around him a wide variety of useful plants. In labor, man had to carry out the great mission of knowing, domesticating and improving plants. Gathering preceded the domestication of plants and animals. Primitive man obtained food by hunting, fishing, collecting fruits, seeds, roots, tubers, bulbs of wild plants.

The areas of application of plants can be represented as the following diagram:

IV. plant protection

Plants give a lot to a person, but what can a person give to plants?

Since ancient times, using plants and animals for their needs, people gradually began to notice that where there were dense forests in the past, they began to thin out, that the herds of wild game animals decreased, and some animals completely disappeared. The man also noticed that the full-flowing rivers and springs began to shallow, and the fish caught in the nets less and less. Birds left their usual nesting places, and their flocks thinned out. The network of ravines and gullies has noticeably increased, and destructive black storms and dry winds have become frequent guests. Loose sands approached the villages and covered their outskirts, often along with the fields. Soil fertility decreased, and weeds appeared on the fields, oppressing crops and reducing the yield of cultivated plants.

Particularly strong changes occurred around cities and emerging industrial centers. The air here has become smoky and heavy from factory and factory chimneys. Near the mines, high waste heaps and dumps of empty rock appeared, as well as extensive dumps of various garbage and waste. The water in rivers and lakes became polluted and became undrinkable. Swamps and hummocks appeared on the site of once former meadows.

Only the memory of the former distribution of forests has been preserved in the names of many villages, villages and individual tracts. So, on the territory of the European part of Russia, you can often find a lot of Borki and Borov, Dubkov and Berezovka, Lipovki and Lipok, where pine forests, oak forests and birch forests used to rustle, and linden was also found. For example, near St. Petersburg there is Sosnovaya Polyana and Sosnovka Park, but there are no pines in them for a long time, and they have been replaced by thickets of alder or, at best, birch. There is an Aspen Grove there, but without an aspen. Berezovy Island disappeared a long time ago, where multi-storey buildings now rise.

The same can be said about the animal world. There are Lebyazhye and Gusinye lakes, but swans and geese do not fly to them everywhere. There are lakes Shchuch'i and Okunevye, but neither pike nor perch have been caught in them for a long time. Losiny Ostrov and Losinoostrovskaya station have survived near Moscow, but moose are not seen here as often as they were in the memory of Muscovites.

And how many places there are with the names of Ravines and Ravines! Let us recall, for example, Sivtsev Vrazhek in Moscow or other Vrazhki to the south-west of it. There are many places with the names Dry Valley, Dry Valley, Dry Log, Dry Ford, Dry or Dead Balk. There are quite a few villages that are called either Pustoshki, or Bespolie or Zapolie. Separate places with the eloquent names of Gary and Pozharischa, Pali and Palniki, as well as Penki and Penechki have also been preserved.

In all these names, people have long noted the appearance of ravines, the disappearance of water, forest clearings, empty and unusable lands and conflagrations. All of them testify to how unceremoniously people treated nature, land and vegetation.

Similar changes in nature have occurred everywhere, in many countries of the world. In tropical countries, instead of the former rich and peculiar forests, their place was taken by monotonous thickets of bamboo. Many species of plants, formerly widespread, were rapaciously cut down and disappeared altogether. Vast savannahs appeared, overgrown with tough and thorny grass, where even thick-skinned buffaloes cannot always penetrate. The edges of the forests have become impenetrable jungle from many vines and thickets of shrubs. The hills and slopes of the mountains were covered with a dense network of cattle tracks due to the immoderate grazing of domestic animals.

Over the past millennia, 2/3 of all forests have been cut down and burned on the globe. Totally agree historical time over 500 million hectares have turned into deserts. Over the past centuries, 540 million hectares of forest have been cut down in America. The forests of Madagascar disappeared on 9/10 of its territory. The once vast forests of the island of Cuba now occupy barely 8% of its land. The famous naturalist Alexander Humboldt said a long time ago: "Man is preceded by forests, he is accompanied by deserts." People, said F. Engels, "did not dream that by doing this they laid the foundation for the desolation of countries, depriving them ... of centers of accumulation and preservation of moisture."

Acute alarm is caused by the accelerating rate of disappearance of many species of flora and fauna. According to far from complete data, over the past four centuries, mankind has lost 130 species of animals, that is, an average of one species in three years. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, 550 species of rare mammals and birds are on the verge of extinction, and up to 1,000 species of animals are under the threat of extermination.

The more often a person began to face such impoverishment of the Earth, the deeper he began to learn the laws of nature, the more clearly he understood the danger of its further unfavorable changes.

Initially, people half-consciously protected cultivated areas and individual plants from their neighbors. After that, they began to think about some kind of patronage of nature as a source of food, and, consequently, life. There were rules governing the use of natural resources. The ancient Egyptians, for example, believed that man should not exterminate animals in their pastures and drive them from "God's" lands. These actions were considered "sinful" and this was recorded in the "Book of the Dead", which contains the spells of the souls of the dead, who appeared before the court of the god Osiris.

In the famous Code of the Babylonian king Hammurabi, who lived 17 centuries BC. e., the rules for the protection of forests and their use were established, and for the illegal felling of a tree in someone else's garden, the perpetrators were supposed to be charged a certain and not small fee.

In the Middle Ages in Western Europe powerful feudal lords, interested in preserving game, issued bans on the use of hunting grounds. Violations were severely punished, up to and including the death penalty. For royal and royal hunting, forbidden and reserved lands appeared, specially protected.

In Russia, the regulation of hunting, for example, appeared under Yaroslav the Wise, and it was recorded in the first written document - Russkaya Pravda.

Peculiar forms of protection of natural resources developed in the Vladimir-Volyn principality (XIII century). In a certain area, hunting for all animals was completely prohibited here. It was the first reserve - Belovezhskaya Pushcha.

During the heyday of the Lithuanian state, special codes of laws were created - Lithuanian statutes, which played a positive role in nature protection. The statute took swans, beavers, foxes and other animals under protection. For the theft, murder or destruction of swan nests, a significant fine was levied.

The conservation of forests was greatly facilitated by the abutments, or aforesaid forests, which were created along the southern border of the forest part of the Russian state. These notches were created to protect against nomads who made raids on Russia.

It was forbidden to cut down trees for economic purposes in the notch forests under pain of severe punishment and even death. The main notches - Tula - were arranged under Ivan the Terrible, and they were corrected already under Mikhail Fedorovich. By the end of the XVII century. in connection with the advance of the defensive line of the Russian state to the south, the notches fell into disrepair, but they were until the beginning of the 19th century. were protected as protected state forests. The Tula notches have survived to this day, but the Kozelsky, Orlovsky, Ryazan and Kazan ones have not been preserved.

During the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich (1645-1676), many decrees were issued on hunting, its terms, forbidden zones, as well as violations established rules, duties and penalties. Decree (1649) "On the conservation of the reserved forest in the Ryazan district" concerned not only hunting, but also the protection of the forest area.

If in pre-Petrine time the forest was cut down to obtain land for arable land, then under Peter I it began to be carefully guarded for shipbuilding. In 1701, Peter I announced a decree "On the uncleaning of forests for arable land along the rivers, along which forests are driven to Moscow, and clean them 30 versts above." Two years later, oak, elm, elm, ash, elm and larch, as well as pine 12 inches (in diameter) were commanded. It was strictly forbidden to cut forests with these species within a strip of 50 versts from large rivers and 20 versts from small ones. For violation of the decree, up to 10 rubles per tree were charged.

Peter I returned to the ban on cutting down forests more than once. He issued a series of decrees prohibiting burning forests, grazing goats and pigs in them, and making tes (to cut down on waste wood), and the tsar sent the so-called "knowledgeable people" to inspect the oak forests on the Volga. He forbade cutting forests in Novgorod, Starorussky, Lutsk and Toropetsk counties.

In St. Petersburg, at the Admiralty Board, a Waldmeister Office was established, whose duties included monitoring the forests on the Volga, Sura, Kama, Oka, Dnieper, Western Dvina, Don, Lake Ladoga and Ilmen. For non-compliance with the rules of protection, the right was given to fine hackers, and punish violators by tearing out their nostrils and referring to hard labor.

Peter I thought not only about the protection of forests, but also about their planting. He planted a lot of trees personally, and on his initiative the Shipov forest was planted in the Voronezh region. The forest "expert" Fokel planted near St. Petersburg the Lindulovsky ship grove (near the village of Lindula), which still attracts the attention of visitors with huge larch trees, carefully numbered and protected to this day.

Peter I was interested not only in forests, but also in other useful plants. So, in 1702, the Apothecary Garden was opened in Moscow (now the Botanical Garden of Moscow University), and in 1714, the Apothecary Garden in St. Petersburg, which became the predecessor of the Botanical Garden, and then the Botanical Institute of the Academy of Sciences. These pharmaceutical institutions were intended to supply the army and the population with medicinal raw materials, which had previously been imported from abroad.

Understanding widely the need to protect nature, Peter I was also interested in the preservation of fur-bearing animals, game and fish, "so that these crafts develop." Predatory methods of hunting and fishing were banned. For illegal hunting, “people of higher ranks” were charged 100 rubles each, and “lower ranks” were threatened with cruel, without any mercy, punishment and exile to Azov “with their wives and children for eternal life.”

Peter I took care of the preservation of the soil, and also paid much attention to protecting the canal banks from erosion and destruction. Peter I also provided for the protection of water bodies, for which it was forbidden not only to cut wood along their banks, but also to process it, “so that the rivers would not be littered with those chips and litter.” It was also forbidden to take out garbage into canals and rivers, as well as to dump ballast from ships, "in all harbors, rivers, raids and marinas of the Russian state." For pollution of reservoirs with ballast, a fine was imposed "100 efimki for each shovel."

mid 18th and early XIX v. in Russia were marked by a significant weakening of the severity of the protection of forests and partly animals. The old rules were replaced by others and consigned to oblivion. Protected ship forests were plundered, the protection of Belovezhskaya Pushcha was removed, and it itself became a place of royal and grand ducal hunting. Catherine II distributed vast areas of land to her close associates, did not care about forests, but on her whim forbade "catching nightingales in the vicinity of St. Petersburg and throughout Ingermanland." The landowners again began to reduce forests for crops and at the same time sell the cut wood.

The damage caused to forests, vegetation in general and the animal world, which was the result of the predatory conduct of the developing capitalist economy, was gradually realized both in Russia and abroad. The best minds of scientists and public figures were concerned about the destruction of nature, and the most progressive specialists began to actively advocate for its protection. It has been proven that a predatory attitude towards nature entails such negative consequences that are difficult to predict. The realization that nature should not only be protected in its individual areas, but also the proper use of natural resources, came later. However, already at the end of the XIX century. the first nature reserves, sanctuaries and National parks that laid the foundation for nature conservation.

One of the first reserves in Western Europe was the reserve in Ireland (1870), and after it, reserves were organized in Iceland, Sweden and Switzerland. Reserves, natural parks and nature reserves appeared from the end of the 19th century near Singapore (1883), in South Africa, Australia, Canada and the USA, and at the very beginning of the 20th century in Burma, Central Africa, Argentina, Canada, the USA and Australia.

The first protected area and natural zoo in Russia was the well-known Askania-Nova, established in 1874 in the former estate of Falzfein. Later, a reserve arose on the small islands of the Baltic Sea (1910) and in other places.

All other currently active protected areas were organized from 1918 to 1969 and in subsequent years both in Russia and abroad.

In total, the total number of the largest nature reserves, national parks, protected areas and reserves in the world exceeded 720. Until 1963, there were 120 reserves and protected areas in the USSR. For a short period of time, their number decreased, but then most of them were restored. Now there are 86 protected areas, the number of which tends to increase.

Plants and vegetation as a whole are the most important part of the biosphere, that is, the spheres of life of plants, animals and humans. In the biosphere, the processes of transformation are not organic matter into organic, the release of oxygen and ozone into the atmosphere, the absorption of carbon dioxide from air and water. Plants are an important part of the biological resources of the Earth, used by humans and animals for a long time.

The plant world is a source of various natural raw materials, building materials, many chemicals, human food and feed for agricultural and wild animals and birds. Everywhere, in all zones and regions, there are useful plants - medicinal, food, ornamental, etc. Of the 20 thousand species of higher plants that form the flora of Russia, not all have been studied.

Although wild plants themselves regenerate, nevertheless, as a result of human activities, many of them have reduced their distribution or are on the verge of destruction. Thus, the protection of natural flora is one of the important tasks of our time. It is especially necessary to preserve forests as a source of timber, many food and feed products, and habitats for useful animals and birds. Forests have water-protective, water-regulating (anti-erosion), soil-protective and climatic significance. They serve as a place for people to relax and meet their cultural and aesthetic needs.

In addition to forests, it is very important to preserve natural pastures for domestic and wild animals. It is known that pastures and hayfields deliver up to 70% of the feed - this livestock base.

The vegetation cover as a whole contains many other useful plants used in the national economy (in industry), as well as in medicine. Procurers of vegetable raw materials should not use predatory methods of their harvesting, which prevent the renewal of useful plants and cause destruction of the vegetation cover.

The protection of nature also concerns the preservation of the most typical landscapes, picturesque corners of the working people's recreation areas and rare plants and animals of historical significance. The whole set of natural conditions, as well as forest park zones, is also subject to protection. air environment, rivers, lakes and other water sources, etc.

An important place among environmental protection measures is the creation of protected areas in the interests of existing and future generations of people.

“Nature protection” is a very capacious concept, which concerns not only vegetation cover, wildlife, soil and water, but also the activities of people building cities and industrial centers; cutting down forests and utilizing various minerals; changing the course of rivers and their level; dumping industrial waste into the water and covering the land with rock heaps; releasing harmful gases into the atmosphere, soot from factories and factories; using in agriculture many chemicals (herbicides, pesticides, arboricides and defoliants); littering the ground with plastic waste and construction debris, etc.

To protect nature means to know the laws of its development and interaction with man. Going to the future, man must enter into an alliance with nature and preserve it everywhere. First of all, it is necessary to protect the vegetation cover of the Earth - our green friend.

V. Conclusion

While working on a project, we:

Mastered new ways of research activities: conducting a survey, processing responses and analyzing them; presentation of the results obtained in the form of tables and diagrams.

They learned to conduct a dialogue, listen to each other, express an opinion, put forward a hypothesis, find arguments and prove their point of view.

Expanded their knowledge of where and for what plants are used.

We learned when and how people began to protect nature.

Research work was not easy, but exciting. We hope that the presented material will be interesting and useful for students. And we will continue our research on this topic and would like to learn about the most unexpected and unusual ways of using plants. slide 2

Choice of topic: we decided to check how knowledge about the role of plants in human life and his attitude towards them are connected. Problem: every year, elementary school students break branches and bushes in the school yard. Hypothesis: If elementary school students really knew and understood the role and importance of plants in people's lives, they would have a different attitude towards plants in the school yard.

The purpose of the project: to find ways to develop a responsible and careful attitude of younger students to nature; formation of ideas about conducting scientific research.

Project objectives: 1. Master the methods of research (survey, processing and analysis of the obtained data). 2. Learn to build diagrams. 3. Learn to collect information on the topic and arrange it. 4. Prepare information for a conversation with primary school students.

Stages of work on the project: 1. Preparatory (choosing a topic; defining goals and objectives; conducting a survey) 2 . Analytical (processing the results of the survey; building diagrams; conclusions) 3. Informational (collecting information about the importance and role of plants in human life) 4. Final (designing research materials; presentations).

II. Research Methods: survey, processing and analysis of survey results Participants: students of 3rd and 4th grades of MBOU "Secondary School No. 24" Form of presentation of results: table, diagrams

value grades total 3a 3b 3c 4a 4b 4c Breathing 17 18 20 20 23 16 114 Beauty 8 12 4 9 15 8 56 Food 5 12 5 3 8 0 33 Medicines 8 7 3 1 3 5 27 Construction 0 4 0 2 1 0 7 Paper 0 2 0 0 1 1 4 Furniture 0 3 0 0 1 0 4 Fabric 0 3 0 0 0 0 3 Food and shelter for animals 0 4 0 2 0 1 7 Ecological balance 0 3 1 1 0 1 6 Unclear answers 1 2 6 1 2 2 14

1. We do not live in places with a tropical climate, the flora of the tundra is poor and very vulnerable, which means that it needs special care. There are few plants here and they grow very slowly. 2. Understanding that plants provide us with fresh air, we do not understand that if we do not take care of them, we can be left without air. 3. Putting the ability of plants to decorate our lives in second place, we do not care about our schoolyard being beautiful. 4. Judging by the answers, we do not really imagine that the presence of rich and diverse vegetation ensures the ecological balance on the planet. conclusions

III. Overview of information on the topic

According to far from complete data, over the past four centuries, mankind has lost 130 species of animals, that is, an average of one species in three years. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, 550 species of rare mammals and birds are on the verge of extinction, and up to 1,000 species of animals are under the threat of extermination. The code of the Babylonian king Hammurabi "Russian Truth" The first reserve - Belovezhskaya Pushcha (XIII century) Lithuanian statutes Zasechny forests Decree (1649) "On the conservation of the reserved forest in the Ryazan district" Waldmeister office .... You will find out what this has to do with nature conservation if you want to get acquainted with sections 3 and 4 of our project IV. From the history of the issue of nature conservation

While working on the project, we: - mastered new ways of research activities: conducting a survey, processing responses and analyzing them; presentation of the results obtained in the form of tables and diagrams. - learned to conduct a dialogue, listen to each other, express an opinion, put forward a hypothesis, find arguments and prove their point of view. - expanded their knowledge of where and for what plants are used. - found out when and how people began to protect nature. VI. Conclusion

as medicines;
for decorative purposes;

The nutritional value of plants is well known. As human food and animal feed, as a rule, parts containing reserve nutrients or the substances themselves extracted in one way or another are used. The need for carbohydrates is mainly satisfied by starch- and sugar-containing plants. The role of sources of vegetable protein in the diet of humans and animals is performed mainly by some plants from the legume family. The fruits and seeds of many species are used to produce vegetable oils. A significant role in human nutrition is played by spices and plants containing caffeine - tea and coffee.

Tea plantation. Photo: Jakub Michankow

The technical use of plants and their products is carried out in several main areas. The most widely used wood and fibrous parts of plants. Wood is used in the manufacture of building and other structures, furniture, as well as in the production of paper. Dry distillation of wood makes it possible to obtain a significant amount of important organic substances widely used in industry and in everyday life. In many countries, wood is one of the main types of fuel.

Despite the widespread use of synthetic fibers, plant fibers derived from cotton (morphologically, these are trichomes), flax, hemp and jute have retained great importance in the production of many fabrics.

Many wild plants serve as a source of a variety of fragrant substances that are used as raw materials in the manufacture of soaps, perfumes, as well as products used in the food industry and medicine. The most valuable of them (except for cultivated pink geranium, Kazanlak rose, clary sage, lemongrass, etc.) are numerous species of the families Umbelliferae, Labiaceae, Compositae (wormwood), etc., growing in different parts of the Earth.

Plants have been used for medicinal purposes for a very long time. V folk medicine they make up the bulk of drugs. In scientific medicine of countries former USSR about a third of drugs used for treatment are obtained from plants. It is believed that at least 21,000 plant species (including mushrooms) are used by the peoples of the world for medicinal purposes.

At least 1,000 plant species are cultivated for ornamental purposes, either for their beautiful flowers or for their showy greenery.

The existence and normal functioning of all ecological systems The biosphere, of which man is also a part, is entirely determined by plants.
Plants already used by man or which may be used by man in the future constitute plant resources. Plant resources are categorized as renewable (when properly exploited) as opposed to, for example, non-renewable mineral resources. Most often, plant resources are divided into resources of natural flora (this includes all wild species) and resources of cultivated plants. In terms of volume and significance in the life of mankind, they differ significantly.

The introduction of plants into culture and the formation of additional plant resources in this way is associated with the formation of ancient human civilizations. The existence of these civilizations could only be ensured by a certain "range" of cultivated plants that provide the necessary amount of vegetable proteins, fats and carbohydrates. A life modern man and modern civilization are impossible without the widest possible use of cultivated plants. Almost all cultivated plants, the number of which now reaches about 1500 species, are angiosperms. By the middle of the XX century. cultivated plants occupied 1.5 billion hectares, i.e., about 10% of the entire land surface of the globe.

Today, a person has a unique opportunity not only to use plants already invented by nature, but also to invent and create something new. We are talking about the genetic biotransformation of plants and the creation of transgenic plants with unique properties that are resistant to various factors.

What are transgenic plants used for? Of course, first of all, in order to preserve the harvest. Transgenic plants are generally resistant to either herbicides or insect pests. Up to 50% of all non-transgenic potatoes die from harmful insects, including the Colorado potato beetle. This is a significant blow to the economy and prices, so genetically modified soybeans, transgenic potatoes, transgenic corn are being introduced and used in the United States and other developing countries of the world. Transgenic plants resistant to herbicides carry a gene taken from one of the bacterial species. This gene encodes a toxin that is used to spray non-transgenic plants, so essentially nothing changes. That we externally spray non-transgenic plants, that we introduced this gene, and it acts from the inside.

In addition to transgenic plants resistant to herbicides and traditional pests, there are plants with improved properties: an increased content of vitamins, an increased content of amino acids, and an altered composition of fatty acids.
An example is rice with a high content of beta-carotene, which is converted into vitamin A in the human body. It is known that today in the developing world people do not get enough vitamin A. In extreme cases, this can lead to blindness. Therefore, the development of such organisms is relevant. Another example is the development of genetically modified carrots in which beta-carotene is increased. This carrot is already successfully sold in American stores today.

There are five main areas where a person directly or indirectly uses plants:

as food;
source of raw materials for industry;
as medicines;
for decorative purposes;
to preserve and improve the environment. Let's consider each of them separately.

Let's start with food. Carbohydrates, proteins and fats are the three main groups of substances that a person needs to build his body and ensure its vital functions. Throughout life, a person processes a huge amount of substances - more than 1000 times the weight of his body. Assimilated substances, he processes them inside his body, takes energy from them and then partially releases them again, but in an altered form.

The total need for food products is directly or indirectly provided by plants: directly by eating the plants themselves or plant products, and indirectly through animals, which ultimately also feed on plants. The ratio of plant and animal food in human nutrition is very different and depends both on its capabilities and on established traditions.

The first conscious relation of man to plants appeared, no doubt, in the fact that he began to collect them in order to eat. Fruits and seeds, tubers and roots, young shoots and even whole plants made up an essential part of the diet of the first people. At the same time, it was necessary to distinguish edible plants from inedible and poisonous ones. So a straight line was established very quickly and close connection people with plants, which grew stronger with the accumulation of knowledge about different types of plants, as well as with the invention of methods for obtaining fire and the processing of collected plants associated with this and the improvement of their nutritional qualities.

When and where man came to the conscious cultivation of plants has not been clarified, nor can it ever be clarified. It is firmly established only that he has been purposefully cultivating plants for a very long time.

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF CELLS. Study the chemical composition of the cell. - presentation

The most ancient traces of this date back 10,000 years, that is, they date back to those distant times when people in some territories switched to a settled way of life.

The most important modern cultivated plants are starchy, and among them, first of all, representatives of the cereal family: wheat, rice, corn, barley, oats and rye. In terms of human use, wheat is undoubtedly in the first place. Rice is slightly inferior to wheat.

The third very widespread grain crop is corn, which is mostly fed to livestock.

Starch-bearing plants, in addition to cereals, also include representatives of other families, among them potatoes are primarily among them.

The next important starchy plant is the banana. Powdery banana fruits are especially rich in starch. They are boiled, fried and baked, from which brown flour is obtained, which finds a wide variety of uses.

In addition to starch, sugar is one of the most important carbohydrates. But the number of sugar-bearing plants in comparison with starch-bearing plants is relatively small, and only two of them - sugar cane and sugar beet - are of great importance.

Proteins, unlike carbohydrates, a person receives mainly from animal food. Of course, many food plants also contain proteins, but in fact, only the seeds of legumes are currently important as a source of vegetable proteins used by humans.

The situation is different with fats, since a significant part of them is given to humans by plants.

These are plants such as rapeseed, colza, poppy, sunflower and others. All these plants contain fats in fruits or seeds.

However, carbohydrates, proteins and fats of purely vegetable origin are only part of the basic human diet. Another, no less important part, a person receives from plants through animals.

A person receives from plants not only energy-rich substances, but also vitamins. Almost all fruit and vegetable plants can be classified as vitamin-bearing plants.

An essential role in our diet is played by spices and spices, all of which, with the exception of common salt, are of vegetable origin. The main part of the flavoring substances of spicy plants belongs to a large group essential oils, which are formed by plants in special cells or are secreted into special receptacles located inside tissues, and later when they leave the plant body through glandular hairs or glandular cells. We are talking about easily evaporating, pleasant-smelling liquids, which are a mixture of alcohols, carbonic acids, esters and other substances. Taste also depends on organic acids, which play an important role in metabolism.

The valuable properties of cultivated plants of another group depend on secondary plant substances - plants containing stimulating substances. The most important of them are coffee, tea, cocoa and tobacco.

However, plants are used by man not only as food and aphrodisiacs; Plants and the products derived from them also play an important role in other areas of human daily life. Plants often use as a raw material or source material to obtain it. Wood, cotton, jute and other fibers, as well as cellulose, rubber, vegetable fats and oils, dyes and tannins obtained from plants, are still needed for many branches of the national economy. Wood has been used by man for a long time; it was the first fuel, and in a number of areas the first building material.

Flax is one of the most famous cultivated plants. To this day, it serves as the main raw material for the manufacture of fabrics, which are used, for example, for bed and table linen.

Hemp is the oldest fibrous plant. From its relatively thick and brittle fibers, at present, mainly ropes, canvas, thick threads, etc. are made. An even coarser fiber gives jute. Almost all jute goes to the production of burlap.

However, cotton, a fibrous plant, plays the most important role in the world economy.

Plant fibers consist of almost pure cellulose, and vegetable cellulose is the main raw material for the manufacture of very many products, of which it is enough to name only paper, cardboard, rayon, viscose, artificial wool, varnishes. The initial raw material for the production of cellulose is mainly wood, but sometimes cane and straw are used.

Another important plant product for industry is natural rubber, although these days it is no longer as important as it used to be.

Tannins, which are part of some plants, are bitter in taste and are widely used in the food industry, since, along with other substances, they determine the taste of many fruits, stimulants and food products.

Tannins are found in lingonberries and blueberries; they give them an astringent taste. Tannins are found in the leaves of the tea bush; rich in them and seeds coffee tree. There are especially many of these substances in the bark and heartwood of some trees. The presence of tannic acids often protect these tissues from damage by microorganisms, making them more resistant.

Many other plant substances also find economic use. True, as a result of the development of chemistry, the importance of some of them has decreased, while others are no longer used at all, such as, for example, many dyes of plant origin.

Like medicines plants still play an important role. Information about the healing effect of plants was preserved in different peoples many centuries. Now we know the substances contained in many plants, and we know what effect they have on the human body. But in folk medicine there are also many false, mystical and superstitious ideas. To some extent, this attitude has continued to this day.

However, plants are not only used for nutrition, for economic and medical purposes, they, in addition, decorate our lives and improve surrounding a person natural environment , being its constant component.

In the daily life of people, flowers have always played and play a big role. As a sign of attention to a friend and comrade, as a gift to a beloved woman, as a last bow to the deceased - flowers are never forgotten. They give comfort to our homes and workplaces, they decorate parks and gardens. Their role in our lives is evidenced by thousands of species and varieties of ornamental plants. Not only ornamental plants are beautiful. Even microscopically small plants cannot but attract attention with a peculiar form.

The plant world is undoubtedly the main component of the biosphere, which, in fact, arose only when plant organisms appeared that were capable of converting solar energy and synthesizing bioorganic matter on Earth. Since then, the overall balance of matter and energy has been closely dependent on the state of the vegetation cover of individual regions and the planet as a whole.

Main article: Flowering plants

The value of flowering plants in nature

Flowering plants, along with other plants, are the main producers of organic matter. Plants, and primarily flowering plants, provide food for all living organisms on the planet. In addition, they are suppliers of oxygen, which is necessary for most organisms to breathe. Flowering plants are an integral part of landscapes and form the face of our planet.

The value of flowering plants in human life

Flowering plants play an essential role in human life, as they provide food and pet food.

cultivated plants

see Cultivated plants

Plants and industry

In addition to cultivated plants, man uses many wild plants for food as animal feed and for other purposes.

Plants are raw materials for various industries: woodworking, pharmaceutical, food. They are used to build houses and other structures, in shipbuilding.

From cellulose, which is part of the membranes of plant cells, paper, cardboard, and fiberboards are made.

In the bark of many trees there is cork tissue, consisting of dead cells, usually filled with air.

Human use of plants

Such fabric reliably protects plants from unfavorable conditions. It does not conduct heat well and does not let water through, because the cell membranes of this tissue are impregnated with a special water-repellent substance. Such tissue in some trees can be cut without harm to the plant. Cork oak bark, for example, is used to make bottle caps and light, resilient, water- and air-impervious facing boards. Material from the site http://wiki-med.com

Plants and medicine

Many plants contain poisonous, strong-smelling, or medicinal substances. These substances are used for the production of medicines, perfumes. Flowers, leaves, stems or fruits of some plants are used as spice and aromatic additives to food dishes.

Plants for decoration

Beautiful flowering plants are used to decorate parks, squares, garden plots. Indoor plants play an important role in landscaping living and working premises, recreations. Nature makes people's lives more harmonious. It is a source of inspiration and creativity for a person.

Material from the site http://Wiki-Med.com

On this page, material on the topics:

distribution of flowering
the importance of flowering plants and their protection
the role of angiosperms in human life and its economic activity
How are flowering plants used by humans?
report on the use of angiosperms in human life

Where does a person use various substances of plant cells

§one. Life Science

1) Insert missing words.

Answer: 1) Biology is the science that studies living organisms, their structure, development e, manifold and vitality.

2) Botany studies plants, zoology - animals, mycology - mushrooms.

2) Write what the Greek words mean:

Answer: bios a life

"logos" doctrine

3) Complete the diagram that reflects human use of plants.

4) Fill the table.

5) Insert the missing letters into the words.

1- Sob and ratel
2- Many O cage O chic
3- Org a nism
4- Bi O logic

6) Make up two sentences with the words from task 5.

Answer: Biology studies unicellular and multicellular organisms. Ancient people were engaged in gathering.

Task 1. Insert the missing words.
1. Biology is a science that studies living organisms, their structure, diversity, development and vital activity.
2. Botany studies plants, zoology studies animals, mycology studies fungi.

Task 2. Write what the Greek words mean:
"bios" - life
"logos" - doctrine

Task 3. Fill in the diagram that reflects the use of plants by humans.

Plants: cultivated, ornamental, wild, fodder, poisonous, medicinal.

Task 4. Fill in the table.

Task 5. Insert the missing letters into the words.
1. Collector
2. Multicellular
3.

organism
4. Biology

Task 6. Make two sentences with the words listed in task 5.
Biology studies unicellular and multicellular organisms.
Ancient people were engaged in gathering.

Answer left Guru

At present, mankind continues to widely use plants for

your needs.

At the same time, the natural vegetation cover is gradually changing.

Forest areas are decreasing, treeless spaces are increasing, disappearing and not

some plants that were once widespread on Earth are being restored.

Although this process of destruction of the original natural vegetation gradually

progresses, however, there are still many plant species that continue to

maintain great economic importance for people's lives.

There are five main areas where a person directly or indirectly uses

plants:
as food;
source of raw materials for industry;
as medicines;
for decorative purposes;
to preserve and improve the environment.

The nutritional value of plants is well known. As human food

and animal feed are generally used parts containing spare parts

nutrients or the substances themselves extracted in one way or another.

The need for carbohydrates is mainly satisfied by starch and

humans and animals are mainly performed by some plants from the family

legumes. The fruits and seeds of many species are used to produce vegetable

oils. spices and plants that contain

caffeine, - tea and coffee.

There are five main areas where plants are used directly or indirectly:

As human food and animal feed,

As a source of raw materials for industry and economic activity,

As medicines and raw materials for the production of medicines,

In decorative gardening and

In the protection and improvement of the environment.

The nutritional value of plants is well known. As human food and animal feed, as a rule, parts containing reserve nutrients or the substances themselves extracted in one way or another are used. The need for carbohydrates is mainly satisfied by starch- and sugar-containing plants. The role of sources of vegetable protein in the diet of humans and animals is performed mainly by some plants from the legume family. The fruits and seeds of many species are used to produce vegetable oils. Most vitamins and minerals also come with fresh plant foods. A significant role in human nutrition is played by spices and plants containing caffeine - tea and coffee.

Plants have been used for medicinal purposes for a very long time. In folk medicine, they make up the bulk of medicines. In the scientific medicine of the countries of the former USSR, about a third of the drugs used for treatment are obtained from plants. It is believed that at least 21,000 plant species (including mushrooms) are used by the peoples of the world for medicinal purposes.

At least 1,000 plant species are cultivated for ornamental purposes, either for their beautiful flowers or for their showy greenery.

The existence and normal functioning of all ecological systems of the biosphere, of which man is also a part, is entirely determined by plants.

Plants already used by man or which may be used by man in the future constitute plant resources. Plant resources are categorized as renewable (when properly exploited) as opposed to, for example, non-renewable mineral resources. Most often, plant resources are divided into resources of natural flora (this includes all wild species) and resources of cultivated plants. In terms of volume and significance in the life of mankind, they differ significantly.

The natural resources of flora are limited and, according to experts, in their initial volume they could provide food for only about 10 million people. Optimization (optimization is an increase in the productivity of natural populations with the help of biotechnical measures (fertilization, clearing, clarification, etc.). This part of plant resources is possible within a relatively limited range. The most widely wild plants are used as sources of technical raw materials, in economic human activities, as well as medicines.

The introduction of plants into culture and the formation of additional plant resources in this way is associated with the formation of ancient human civilizations. The existence of these civilizations could only be ensured by a certain "range" of cultivated plants that provide the necessary amount of vegetable proteins, fats and carbohydrates. The life of modern man and modern civilization are impossible without the widest use of cultivated plants. Almost all cultivated plants, the number of which now reaches about 1500 species, are angiosperms. By the middle of the XX century. cultivated plants occupied 1.5 billion hectares, i.e., about 10% of the entire land surface of the globe.

Increasing the resources of cultivated plants is possible within a very wide range, both by increasing the area of their cultivation, and by improving agricultural technology and breeding highly productive varieties. It is believed that the full mobilization of renewable resources, including plant resources, can ensure the existence of at least 6 billion people on Earth.

Life, which originated on our planet about 4 billion years ago and represents a unique a natural phenomenon, has gone through a long path of development, as a result of which amazingly complex living systems - organisms - have arisen. During this period, the appearance of the Earth changed repeatedly, the composition of the atmosphere changed, oceans and entire continents arose and disappeared. Numerous and once prosperous groups of plants and animals came to replace each other, giving way to more and more complex and perfect living organisms in the face of increasing competition and an ever-changing climate. The natural stage of this grandiose process was the appearance of thinking beings, whose mind allowed them not only to realize the phenomenon of life in all its manifestations, but also to recreate in general terms the history of its development and classify the forms of life in all their amazing diversity. One can only guess in what ways life will develop and improve in the future, but it is already clear that human activity to a very large extent negatively affects its development. One of the main tasks of biology, and in particular botany, is to show not only the material, but also the spiritual dependence of mankind on the biosphere, which, figuratively speaking, is the cradle of our civilization. The complexity and endless diversity of the living world around us, the unsurpassed beauty of the universe form the vital spiritual side of our consciousness.