Skip to main content
Engineering LibreTexts

3.2.6: Summative Assessment- Drivers and Feedbacks in the Development of Food Systems

  • Page ID
    48081
  • \( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \) \( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)\(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)\(\newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)

    Instructions

    Download the worksheet to understand and complete the assessment. You will submit the answers from the worksheet to the Module 2 Summative Assessment in Canvas.

    The first part of the worksheet presents a more detailed version of the interaction of human and natural systems at the onset of agriculture at the end of the last ice age, presented at the end of Module 2.1. This is to provide you an example in the use of these diagrams to think about changes in food systems over human history, and it is shown below here as well.

    hns.jpeg

    Figure 2.2.3.: Example of human and natural system drivers around domestication in human food systems, to guide responses in the two other examples in the assessment. Credit: Steven Vanek, adapted from the National Science Foundation

    Click for a text description of the Human Natural System image

    Heading at the top says, Human to natural drivers and feedbacks: Human system causes changes in the natural system and strengthens existing changes. At the bottom is the heading Natural to Human drivers and feedbacks: Natural system causes changes in the human system and strengthens existing changes. From Human System on the left, an arrow leads to the following items: Humans settle near to water sources in higher population densities, Increase in social complexity, Humans notice and make use of large-seeded wild plants and animals near water for domestication, Increased need for food, Deforestation, and disturbed soils. From Natural system, an arrow flows to the following items: Warmer/drier climates with more seasonal precipitation, Larger seed size in wild plants, Potential domesticated animals drawn to water sources near to humans, Good niches for crops around human settlements. The arrows represent a continuous flow between Human and Natural systems.

    Further instructions for the assignment are given in the worksheet. You will need to fill in four questions on the worksheet, some of which have multiple parts.

    Submitting Your Assignment

    Please submit your assignment in Module 2 Summative Assessment in Canvas.


    This page titled 3.2.6: Summative Assessment- Drivers and Feedbacks in the Development of Food Systems is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Heather Karsten & Steven Vanek (John A. Dutton: e-Education Institute) via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.