school energy&environment
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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8 March 2019 / Life
8 March. We remember Rosalind Franklin, the great female DNA scientist.
DNA was first isolated by Friedrich Miescher, a Swiss biochemist in 1869. It was a brilliant, but not complicated operation:…
27 February 2019 / Life
In search of the riders of icebergs
International Polar Bear Day, set up by Polar Bears International, a non-profit organisation, was held on 27 February. The aim…
15 February 2019 / Life
Urban aliens
When you take your dog out for a walk in the public gardens near your home or during a stroll…
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30 January 2019 / Life
Dwarfs and giants of the islands
Elephants have eyes that are small in proportion to the size of their heads: it is quite hard to locate…
20 November 2018 / Life
Under the sign of the Bear
Thirty thousand years ago, on the walls of the Chauvet-Pont d'Arc cave in Southern France, primitive artists painted woolly mammoths,…
12 November 2018 / Life
Lucy in the sky with diamonds and butterflies
A butterfly flapping its wings in Brazil can produce a tornado in Texas. The author of this poetic image was…
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22 October 2018 / Life
Crispr-Cas9, the gene factory
DNA is like an alphabet with only four letters (G, T, A, C) written one after another. A, C, G,…
16 October 2018 / Life
World Food Day 2018
The United Nations food and agriculture organisation (FAO) celebrates the il World Food Day each year on 16 October, with…
23 July 2018 / Life
Animal architecture, both elegance and precision
Homes, dams, artistic installations. We are often inclined to believe that humans are the only animals able to erect buildings…
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8 March 2019 / Life
8 March. We remember Rosalind Franklin, the great female DNA scientist.
DNA was first isolated by Friedrich Miescher, a Swiss biochemist in 1869. It was a brilliant, but not complicated operation:…
27 February 2019 / Life
In search of the riders of icebergs
International Polar Bear Day, set up by Polar Bears International, a non-profit organisation, was held on 27 February. The aim…
-
15 February 2019 / Life
Urban aliens
When you take your dog out for a walk in the public gardens near your home or during a stroll…
30 January 2019 / Life
Dwarfs and giants of the islands
Elephants have eyes that are small in proportion to the size of their heads: it is quite hard to locate…
-
20 November 2018 / Life
Under the sign of the Bear
Thirty thousand years ago, on the walls of the Chauvet-Pont d'Arc cave in Southern France, primitive artists painted woolly mammoths,…
12 November 2018 / Life
Lucy in the sky with diamonds and butterflies
A butterfly flapping its wings in Brazil can produce a tornado in Texas. The author of this poetic image was…
-
22 October 2018 / Life
Crispr-Cas9, the gene factory
DNA is like an alphabet with only four letters (G, T, A, C) written one after another. A, C, G,…
16 October 2018 / Life
World Food Day 2018
The United Nations food and agriculture organisation (FAO) celebrates the il World Food Day each year on 16 October, with…
-
23 July 2018 / Life
Animal architecture, both elegance and precision
Homes, dams, artistic installations. We are often inclined to believe that humans are the only animals able to erect buildings…
-
8 March 2019 / Life
8 March. We remember Rosalind Franklin, the great female DNA scientist.
DNA was first isolated by Friedrich Miescher, a Swiss biochemist in 1869. It was a brilliant, but not complicated operation:…
-
27 February 2019 / Life
In search of the riders of icebergs
International Polar Bear Day, set up by Polar Bears International, a non-profit organisation, was held on 27 February. The aim…
-
15 February 2019 / Life
Urban aliens
When you take your dog out for a walk in the public gardens near your home or during a stroll…
-
30 January 2019 / Life
Dwarfs and giants of the islands
Elephants have eyes that are small in proportion to the size of their heads: it is quite hard to locate…
-
20 November 2018 / Life
Under the sign of the Bear
Thirty thousand years ago, on the walls of the Chauvet-Pont d'Arc cave in Southern France, primitive artists painted woolly mammoths,…
-
12 November 2018 / Life
Lucy in the sky with diamonds and butterflies
A butterfly flapping its wings in Brazil can produce a tornado in Texas. The author of this poetic image was…
-
22 October 2018 / Life
Crispr-Cas9, the gene factory
DNA is like an alphabet with only four letters (G, T, A, C) written one after another. A, C, G,…
-
16 October 2018 / Life
World Food Day 2018
The United Nations food and agriculture organisation (FAO) celebrates the il World Food Day each year on 16 October, with…
-
23 July 2018 / Life
Animal architecture, both elegance and precision
Homes, dams, artistic installations. We are often inclined to believe that humans are the only animals able to erect buildings…
from the Multimedia section
curiosities
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Watch out for aliens!
Italy has some new inhabitants, but that is no cause for celebration: the list of alien species is long. Two…
Plants and bacteria giving new "light" to off grid communities
"Planta lampara", a lamp powered by the energy produced thanks to the combination of plants and bacteria...
-
CO2 “eating” trees
If a tree “eats” CO2 and produces oxygen it is easy to understand the importance it has in reducing the…
-
Watch out for aliens!
Italy has some new inhabitants, but that is no cause for celebration: the list of alien species is long. Two…
Plants and bacteria giving new "light" to off grid communities
"Planta lampara", a lamp powered by the energy produced thanks to the combination of plants and bacteria...
-
CO2 “eating” trees
If a tree “eats” CO2 and produces oxygen it is easy to understand the importance it has in reducing the…
-
Watch out for aliens!
Italy has some new inhabitants, but that is no cause for celebration: the list of alien species is long. Two…
-
Plants and bacteria giving new "light" to off grid communities
"Planta lampara", a lamp powered by the energy produced thanks to the combination of plants and bacteria...
-
CO2 “eating” trees
If a tree “eats” CO2 and produces oxygen it is easy to understand the importance it has in reducing the…