Summative Assessment: Drivers and Feedbacks in the Development of Food Systems

Instructions

Download the worksheet to understand and complete the assessment. You will submit the answers from the worksheet to the Module 2 Summative Assessment in Canvas.

The first part of the worksheet presents a more detailed version of the interaction of human and natural systems at the onset of agriculture at the end of the last ice age, presented at the end of Module 2.1. This is to provide you an example in the use of these diagrams to think about changes in food systems over human history, and it is shown below here as well.

human and natural system drivers of domestication, see image caption and text description in link below
Fig. 2.2.3. Example of human and natural system drivers around domestication in human food systems, to guide responses in the two other examples in the assessment.
Heading at the top says, Human to natural drivers and feedbacks: Human system causes changes in the natural system and strengthens existing changes. At the bottom is the heading Natural to Human drivers and feedbacks: Natural system causes changes in the human system and strengthens existing changes. From Human System on the left, an arrow leads to the following items: Humans settle near to water sources in higher population densities, Increase in social complexity, Humans notice and make use of large-seeded wild plants and animals near water for domestication, Increased need for food, Deforestation, and disturbed soils. From Natural system, an arrow flows to the following items: Warmer/drier climates with more seasonal precipitation, Larger seed size in wild plants, Potential domesticated animals drawn to water sources near to humans, Good niches for crops around human settlements. The arrows represent a continuous flow between Human and Natural systems.
Credit: Steven Vanek, adapted from the National Science Foundation

Further instructions for the assignment are given in the worksheet. You will need to fill in four questions on the worksheet, some of which have multiple parts.

Completing Your Assignment

Please use this completed worksheet as a guide for taking the Summative Assessment quiz. You do not need to submit your worksheet.