scuola energia e ambiente
Plants
Botanists, who are scientists who study plants, have identified and described over 3,500 types of plants, but there are many more! Plants have different shapes and sizes, some are so small they can only be seen with a microscope, while others are so tall that it is hardly possible to identify their foliage; many have very colourful flowers others do not have any.
There is such a large variety of plants because they live in different environments of the Earth: in the water, in thick forests or wide plains, in cold climates or blazing deserts. Since millions of years they have had to and have known how to adapt to their environment. Plants provide much of the oxygen that animals and humans breathe, and a large part of the food they eat.
subjects dealt with in Plants
Plants knowledge
Algae are plant organisms that carry out photosynthesis but which, unlike plants, have a poorly differentiated body, or thallus, and…
Man and Plants
Plants are essential food for all living organisms, including man, to survive. In the Ecosystems section, we saw they are…
Impacts on ecosystems
Farming also means exploitation of forests. There are many reasons for deforestation: timber trade, exploitation of ore deposits, urbanisation and…
GMOs
In the light of the current food crisis, to increase agricultural productivity on a global scale, it’s possible to expand…
Sustainable agriculture
Sustainable agriculture was established in response to environmental problems caused by the “green revolution” and other production methods having high…
special reports
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25 November 2014 / Life
Years of plastics
Waste, abandoned objects, disposed items, even though we try to ignore them, hide them and shift them, they pervade our…
3 November 2014 / Life
Conan the bacterium
Have you ever leafed through the pages of a book of Guinness World Records? You can find records of all…
7 October 2014 / Life
What language does science speak? 2nd part
There is an old proverb that says “the apple does not fall far from the tree ”. Apparently it seems…
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18 September 2014 / Life
What language does science speak?
Do you remember the game called “Chinese whispers”? All the participants had to stand in line and the game started…
2 July 2014 / Life
A hoax? No thank you, I prefer to find out myself!
In Italian, bufala: a hoax, also means a female buffalo – and a type of mozzarella cheese is made with…
31 August 2013 / Life
The Red List of Italian animals
Biodiversity in Italy Italy has a rich biodiversity due to its distinctive geographic, climatic and historical characteristics. In particular, there…
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4 April 2013 / Life
Carbon (14C) dating method
Radiocarbon dating In 1991, near the border between Austria and Italy, the body of the Similaun man, also known as…
27 September 2012 / Life
Over 7 billion people on Earth
World population hits 7 billion Demographers have estimated that on 31 October 2011 world population reached the 7 billion mark,…
11 June 2012 / Life
Bats, facts and fiction
Legend or fact? In ancient Rome, bats were nailed to the door of the house as a protection from witches…
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25 November 2014 / Life
Years of plastics
Waste, abandoned objects, disposed items, even though we try to ignore them, hide them and shift them, they pervade our…
3 November 2014 / Life
Conan the bacterium
Have you ever leafed through the pages of a book of Guinness World Records? You can find records of all…
-
7 October 2014 / Life
What language does science speak? 2nd part
There is an old proverb that says “the apple does not fall far from the tree ”. Apparently it seems…
18 September 2014 / Life
What language does science speak?
Do you remember the game called “Chinese whispers”? All the participants had to stand in line and the game started…
-
2 July 2014 / Life
A hoax? No thank you, I prefer to find out myself!
In Italian, bufala: a hoax, also means a female buffalo – and a type of mozzarella cheese is made with…
31 August 2013 / Life
The Red List of Italian animals
Biodiversity in Italy Italy has a rich biodiversity due to its distinctive geographic, climatic and historical characteristics. In particular, there…
25 November 2014 / Life
Years of plastics
Waste, abandoned objects, disposed items, even though we try to ignore them, hide them and shift them, they pervade our…
3 November 2014 / Life
Conan the bacterium
Have you ever leafed through the pages of a book of Guinness World Records? You can find records of all…
7 October 2014 / Life
What language does science speak? 2nd part
There is an old proverb that says “the apple does not fall far from the tree ”. Apparently it seems…
from the Multimedia section
curiosities
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The African elephant
The African elephant is the largest land animal living on our Planet. The male African elephant can reach a length…
Animal records
Long jump Snow leopard : 13 metres Springbok: 10 metres Kangaroo: 9 metres Flea: 35 cm, in other words, 220…
The biggest animal
The biggest living animal is the blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus). It can reach a length of 33 metres and weigh…
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Another camouflage …
In the gardens it is quite common to find the larvae of the Chrysomelidae family beetle, called lily beetle (Crioceris…
The biggest tree
The tallest tree in the world is called Hyperion . It is a Sequoia sempervirens and is 115.55 metres tall,…
The whale shark
The whale shark (Rhincodon typus) is the biggest fish in the world, in fact it can reach a length of…
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CO2 “eating” trees
If a tree “eats” CO2 and produces oxygen it is easy to understand the importance it has in reducing the…
Green for hope
Trees carry out an important hydrogeological function: the leaves protect the soil from erosion caused by rain and the roots…
The tree and the truffle
Truffles are hypogean (underground) fungi which grow in the presence of particular trees such as oaks, holm oaks and willows,…
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The African elephant
The African elephant is the largest land animal living on our Planet. The male African elephant can reach a length…
Animal records
Long jump Snow leopard : 13 metres Springbok: 10 metres Kangaroo: 9 metres Flea: 35 cm, in other words, 220…
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The biggest animal
The biggest living animal is the blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus). It can reach a length of 33 metres and weigh…
Another camouflage …
In the gardens it is quite common to find the larvae of the Chrysomelidae family beetle, called lily beetle (Crioceris…
-
The biggest tree
The tallest tree in the world is called Hyperion . It is a Sequoia sempervirens and is 115.55 metres tall,…
The whale shark
The whale shark (Rhincodon typus) is the biggest fish in the world, in fact it can reach a length of…
The African elephant
The African elephant is the largest land animal living on our Planet. The male African elephant can reach a length…
Animal records
Long jump Snow leopard : 13 metres Springbok: 10 metres Kangaroo: 9 metres Flea: 35 cm, in other words, 220…
The biggest animal
The biggest living animal is the blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus). It can reach a length of 33 metres and weigh…