OMNIVORE’S DILEMMA – STEM BIOLOGY QUESTIONS
INTRODUCTION:
1. Define the terms carnivore, omnivore, and herbivore. Give an example of each. 3 pts
2. What is a food chain? What are the main components of a typical food chain? How does a food chain differ
from a food web? What type of organism must all food webs / chains end with? What kingdom do
most of these organisms belong to? 5 pts
PART ONE - The Industrial Meal: Food from Corn
Ch. 1 – How Corn Took Over America
1. Write the formula for photosynthesis. Using the formula as a guide, provide a brief summary of the process
in your own words. 4 pts
2. According to the book, how are biologists able to determine how much corn we eat? 1pt
3. What IS the omnivore’s dilemma? 1 pts
Ch. 2 – The Farm
1. What is hybrid corn? Explain what is meant by the term “hybrid” and what process scientists used to
created hybrid corn. 3 pts
2. Explain the advantage of crop diversity from an ecological standpoint. Why is yearly crop rotation important
to farmers who only plant one crop per field? 3pts
Ch. 3 – From Farm to Factory
1. Define the term “fossil fuels” and give two examples. What role do fossil fuels have in industrial farming?
What biogeochemical cycle do fossil fuels belong to? Name the other biogeochemical cycles. 6pts
2. Name 2 benefits and 2 drawbacks to using fossil fuels for farming? 4 pts
3. The book mentions a “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico. What is the biological term for the buildup of
algae from accumulation of toxins? What does the algae do to make this area a dead zone? 2 pts
Ch. 4 – The Grain Elevator
1. State 2 environmental conditions that are a direct result of planting primarily corn. 2 pts
2. Look at the pie chart on page 58. How is corn primarily used in this country? 1 pt
Ch. 5 – The Feedlot, Turning Corn into Meat
1. What is a CAFO and what have CAFO’s allowed farmers to do? 2 pts
2. Give an example of a typical diet used for feedlot cows. How are the different foods in your example
supposed to benefit the cows? Discuss how each food type in your example could result in illness to
the cows. 8 pts
Ch. 6 – Processed Food
1. The food industry calls all the different corn food products “fractions.” List 4 major fractions and a major
food example of each one. 8 pts
2. The end of the chapter discusses resistant starch. Explain a resistant starch in your own words. Do you
foresee any health issues with the addition of resistant starch to our foods? Generate your own
hypothesis using one of the health issues that you feel may arise. 4 pts
3. List 3 foods that naturally contain resistant starch. List 3 manufactured foods that resistant starches are
added. Why do food companies add these products? 7pts
Ch. 7 – Fat from Corn
1. What is type-II diabetes and how does someone get this disease? (Please give a scientific explanation in your
own words and cite the resource(s) you used). 4pts
2. The average person needs 2,000 calories. Research how to calculate daily caloric needs. Use the formula
to calculate YOUR daily caloric intake. Show your work. 2 pts
Ch. 8 – The Omnivore’s Dilemma
1. Describe the adaptations of the human body that fit the omnivore diet. Why did our sweet tooth instinct
evolve? 4 pts
2. How has the discovery of cooking impacted our diet? Find 2 other food examples (not mentioned in the
book) that are toxic or poisonous before cooking. How might these foods affect systems in our body if
they were consumed prior to cooking? 5 pts
Ch. 9 – My Fast-food Meal
1. What is TBHQ? Argue why it should NOT be in our food. Defend the manufacturers that add it to food. 3 pts
2. Determine the relationship between HFCS and childhood obesity. 2 pts
PART TWO - The Industrial Organic Meal
Ch. 10 – Big Organic
1. Summarize the timeline of organic food’s introduction into society. 3 pts
2. Analyze the term organic processed food? Decide if such a thing really exists. 2 pts
Ch. 11 – More Big Organic
1. Conclude why all the chickens get sick if one gets sick? What does “they are all alike” mean? 2 pts
2. What do the numbers on a bag of fertilizer represent? Describe how each element benefits a plant. How
do plants get these elements if you do not add fertilizer? 7 pts
3. Recognize why organic industrial farming can still be bad for the environment? 2 pts
PART THREE - The Local Sustainable Meal: Food from Grass
Ch. 12 – Polyface Farm
1. Assess the benefits of the farm - field - grazing rotation at Polyface Farms? 2pts
2. After reading this chapter, write your own definition of organic. 2pts
Ch. 13 – Grass
1. What is the law of the second bite? What happens when factory farms don’t follow this? 2pts
2. Describe the term biodiversity. What effect does biodiversity have on this farm? Search for any major
historical events that can be attributed to lack of biodiversity and explain what happened and why.
5pts
Ch. 14 – Animals
1. Interpret what is meant by, “birds following herbivores”. List two other examples in nature not already
listed in the book. Support your examples. 5pts
2. How do the organic methods of Polyface farm continue during the winter months? 2pts
Ch. 15 – The Slaughterhouse
1. What are the USDA rules for slaughtering chickens? 3 pts
2. Compare what happens to the chicken waste (legs, feathers, blood, etc.) at Polyface farms versus other
factory-type farms? 3pts
Ch. 16 – The Market
1. What is meant by, “the non-barcode people”? 1 pts
2. Farmer’s markets and farm-to-table restaurants are becoming more and more common. Find 2 local farm
markets and one farm-to-table restaurant and list their names and addresses. 4 pts
Ch. 17 – My Grass-fed Meal
1. Grass-fed animals have high levels of beta-carotene, vitamin E, and folic acid, among other things. Create a
table explaining how our body specifically uses each of these three substances. 6pts
2. Why do some scientists think there are higher levels of heart disease found in our country verses other
countries? Choose one other country and compare their heart disease data to the U.S. heart disease
data. 2pts
PART FOUR - The Do-it-Yourself meal: Hunted, Gathered, & Gardened Food
Ch. 18 – The Forest
1. Use a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast past hunter-gatherers to current “civilized” people. 4pts
2. What is considered to be part II of the Omnivore’s dilemma? 2pts
Ch. 19 – Eating Animals
1. Name and explain the moral debate regarding the suffering of animals? 3pts
2. What is the vegetarian’s dilemma? 1 pt
3. Instead of using the word “suffering,” what word does the food industry use? Conclude a reason why they
use this other word. 3pts
Ch. 20 – Hunting
1. Describe how wild pigs were introduced to the environment? What is the foreign species called when
humans introduce the foreign species to a new environment? Conclude why doing this can prove to be
very damaging to an ecosystem. 4pts
2.
How did they “dress” the pig they killed? Why must the hunter be careful when doing this? Name a
disease that can be contracted from a wild pig, explain how it is caused, list the symptoms / side
effects, and how (if at all) it can be treated. (list your sources) 6pts
Ch. 21 – Gathering
1. Where does the chanterelle grow? Chanterelles can mimic other mushrooms. Explain the meaning of
mimicry in nature. How is this concept related to natural selection? Support why the author uses the
finding of the chanterelle to relate back to a cereal choice in the grocery store? 4pts
2. Why did plants and fungi coevolve? 2pts
3. Use chapters 20-21 to diagram the relationships between the chanterelles, pigs, insects, oak trees and their
roots, morels, birds, fire, and hunters. 8pts
Ch. 22 – The Perfect Meal
1. What four things should we know about our food in order to consume the perfect meal? 4pts
2. Look at the list of rules for a do-it-yourself-meal. Brainstorm a meal you could potentially make following
these rules. How would you attempt this and what would your challenges be? 8 pts
3. Use your meal items to build a chart or table. This diagram needs to include the specific macromolecules
that each item would provide for your body, how the body uses the macromolecule, and what the
consequence would be if your body were lacking intake of the macromolecule. 12pts
4. Propose why the industrial food chain so much more expensive that the do-it-yourself meal? 2pts