Transportation and Construction Rubber Trees – brought about tires, which has enabled cars, planes and spacecraft Wood is used in construction around the world Plants are also used for fuel – ethanol-blended gasoline.
Medicine More than 7000 medicines today are made from plants. Many plants have been used for their medical properties, for instance the bark of a Willow tree was used for its pain relieving properties. Later the compound responsible for this (acetylsalicylic acid) was derived, concentration and produced as Aspirin.
Opium Poppies → Morphine (strong pain killer) Cinchona trees → Quinine (used to prevent malaria)
Provide Oxygen Animals produce CO2 while using O2 and Plants use this CO2 to produce O2 (and the cycle continues)
Uprooted tree roots hold onto the surrounding soil
Build and Protect Soil As plants die and decompose they add nutrients to the soil plants aid in preventing soil erosion (process of moving soil from one place to another), above all roots hold the soil together
Provide Food Plants make their own food and in turn are eaten by an animal who is in turn eaten by another animal (cycle continues). Without plants, light energy would never converted to chemical energy, say goodbye to the food chain. Cocoa tree – Chocolate Canola – Vegetable Oil Seaweed – Ice-cream, Yogurt Sugar beets – Sugar Can you think of other examples??
Koala munching on Eucalyptus Leaves
Fiber Plants can be used for shelter and warmth (Example: Wooden frames, cloth made from cotton, etc) Cotton– Used for clothing, plastics and papers Hemp– The oldest cultivated plant in the world, the first bible was printed on hemp. Early sails and ropes were made of hemp The Advantages of Hemp: -Can be harvested in one year -Hemp paper can be recycled more times and more easily than wood paper -Hemp is not eaten by most insect pests Flax – 2-3 times as strong as cotton! Used in varnishes and some types of linoleum.