Food production has advanced from the original form where humans gathered food from the wild, to cultivation and selection of wild plants (landraces), and further to modern-day plant breeding of new varieties and cultivars with high quality, yields, and resistance to abiotic and biotic stresses. Food crops have been derived from wild plant species (crop wild relatives) from throughout the world and are now cultivated in locations that may be far from their original sources. Here, we provide information and illustrations about where food crops originated and we highlight the important work of the Russian Geneticist Dr. Nikolai Vavilov, who introduced the concept of “centre of origin” for crop plants and encouraged the conservation and use of crop wild relatives for plant improvement.

As a component of the new Special Topics course on Edible and Medicinal Plants of Montana (S 2017), students are tasked with designing and landscaping a Medicinal Plants of Montana Native Plant Garden. This OER includes documents guiding instructors through the implementation of the project.

Each group is given the approximate dimensions of the garden and the professor presents options for them to consider, e.g., soil and bed preparation, pathways, fencing, and signage. Students are provided with a list of more than seventy plants to consider for placement in the garden. In groups, students research mature height and width of plants, special sun or soil requirements, and potential sources. In this manner, native plant research is spread among the groups and a final document containing all information is posted for group use in design. At the end of four weeks in which some laboratory time is provided for design, each group presents their ideas to the class. After selection of the best ideas from each group, the class is split into larger groups, each competitively presenting the ultimate design to be landscaped on the MSUN campus.

The purpose of this Performance task is to provide students with an opportunity to problem solve based on a real-world situation (Claims 2 & 4). Due to the nature of the task, there are a variety of mathematical approaches students can take to successfully complete the task, however the mathematical approach presented in Act Three of the task addresses CCSS Domain of Operation and Algebraic Thinking. With this approach, students are shown different strategies for using multiplication to find the solution. Includes slides to support the implementation of “The Winner Is…Native Plants (3-5)” Math Performance Task with charts, images, etc.

Situated on California's scenic Big Sur Coast, the Natural Reserve System's (NRS) Landels-Hill Big Creek Reserve provides researchers and students with a spectacular location to study nature. Scientists use the reserve to track water quality, monitor fish populations, and survey California's disappearing native wildflowers. Students from UC Santa Cruz use the off-shore marine reserve to test their underwater research skills, and grade school students visit Big Creek to learn how animals adapt to their environment. (29 minutes)