Study Guide

Agriculture
Sample Questions

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Competency 0001
Understand core principles of agricultural education.

1. A university farm is experimenting with software that analyzes the temperature, humidity, and flow rate of air in a confinement facility. The software models the movement of air through the facility and operates heating and ventilation systems to optimize animal comfort and minimize energy costs. This information technology system is most likely gathering data using:

  1. geographic information systems (GIS) technology.
  2. information downloaded from the National Weather Service.
  3. global positioning system (GPS) technology.
  4. sensors located strategically throughout the facility.
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: D. Computerized monitoring and control systems use sensors to collect data. These devices measure a physical quantity such as temperature, humidity, or pressure and convert it to an electrical signal. The signal is then digitized for analysis by computers. Microcontrollers connected to the computer system can be used to control lights, fans, heating systems, and a variety of other kinds of equipment. Sensors can also be used for safety purposes, such as monitoring the build-up of dangerous ammonia gasses in a confinement facility.

Competency 0002
Understand the role of leadership in agricultural education.

2. Which of the following activities is an example of a placement supervised agricultural experience (SAE)?

  1. creating and posting online a video showing how to use a cultivator to control weeds
  2. raising a variety of different types of garlic and selling the bulbs online
  3. obtaining an internship in marketing research at a food-processing company
  4. determining how installing solar panels on a farm can reduce energy
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: C. The total agricultural model consists of integrating classroom learning, supervised agricultural experiences (SAEs), and FFA activities. An SAE is a supervised activity that is planned by the student with the help of the teacher with the goal of providing hands-on learning opportunities. There are three types of SAEs: entrepreneurship, placement, and exploratory. A placement SAE involves placing the student in an established agricultural business, such as an agriculture supply company or a pet grooming business. Obtaining an internship at a food-processing company is also an example of a placement SAE.

Competency 0003
Understand careers and career development in agriculture.

3. An agriculture teacher is planning a unit on careers and career development. In planning the scope and sequence of the unit, the teacher should have the students engage in which of the following activities first?

  1. taking an online assessment in which students answer questions about their strengths, interests, and preferences
  2. using a Web-based résumé builder to explore the characteristics of chronological, functional, and combination résumés
  3. doing a Web-based search in which students explore the different types of careers available in the areas of agriculture
  4. learning the multimedia tools needed to create a digital portfolio to highlight and showcase leadership skills and extemporaneous speaking
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: A. The lesson should follow the same process that is used in developing a career plan. The first step in developing a career plan is to conduct a self-assessment. The goal of a self-assessment is for an individual to determine what kind of work he or she is interested in doing; what type of skills, strengths, or traits he or she has; and how these traits are manifested in various careers. There are many online assessment tools that can be used for this purpose.

Competency 0004
Understand the biology of plants.

4. On a hot sunny day, plants may experience temporary wilting of leaves and stems because:

  1. extreme heat expands water causing some plant cell walls to burst.
  2. translocation of sugars and starches from leaves increases at higher temperatures.
  3. rates of transpiration exceed absorption and plant cells lose internal water pressure.
  4. water is broken down by the processes of light-dependent photosynthesis.
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: C. Vascular plants are held upright by water pressure. This is known as turgid pressure. When plants have enough water in their cells, there is sufficient hydrostatic pressure to maintain the plant upright. Water moves through plants by the process of transpiration and part of that process is driven by evaporation. If the rate of transpiration is greater than the rate of water absorption, then turgid pressure will drop and the plant will wilt. This often happens on hot sunny days.

Competency 0005
Understand soils and crop production.

5. A farmer would most likely plant dwarf wheat for which of the following purposes?

  1. to apply herbicides to control weeds without damaging the crop
  2. to produce plants with high seed yields that will not fall over
  3. to reduce crop rotations by planting a nitrogen-fixing variety
  4. to minimize the amount of water needed to produce the crop
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: B. Dwarf wheat varieties were created by Norman Borlaug. Borlaug produced wheat plants that when fertilized produced high seed yields. These plants had tall, thin stalks and tended to fall over from the weight of the extra grain. To solve this problem, crossbreeding was used to produce varieties that had shorter, thicker stalks. These plants could maintain the weight of the high yield.

Competency 0006
Understand the biology of animals.

6. In horse coloration, any appearance of white spotting or markings, such as a blaze on the face or white legs, reflects the presence of a dominant gene. If two horses with white markings produce a foal with no white coloration, the result indicates that the parent horses have which of the following genetic characteristics related to white coloration?

  1. Both parents are heterozygous.
  2. One parent is homozygous for the dominant gene and the other homozygous for the recessive gene.
  3. Both parents are homozygous for the recessive gene.
  4. One parent is homozygous for the dominant gene and the other is heterozygous for the recessive gene.
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: A. In genetics, homozygous implies that the two alleles for a gene are the same, and heterozygous implies that they are different. White coloration in the horse is determined by two alleles. If two horses have white markings, then each horse must have at least one gene for white markings. If the foal has no white markings, then the foal must have two recessive alleles for this trait, which means that the parents must be heterozygous for this trait. This can be seen by letting C represent the dominate gene for white markings and c represent the recessive gene for another coloration. Then the heterozygous pairs Cc and Cc can produce offspring with the following alleles: CC, Cc, cC, and cc. The pair cc represents the offspring with no white markings. Given the information, this is the only way this could occur.

Competency 0007
Understand animal production.

7. An animal producer is most likely to add urea to the feed ration of a ruminant for which of the following purposes?

  1. facilitating the absorption of calcium into the blood stream for bone production
  2. supplying additional nitrogen for the synthesis of essential amino acids
  3. boosting the production of growth hormones in the endocrine system
  4. reducing the number of bacteria and other microorganisms in the digestive system
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: B. Urea used in cattle feed is a synthetic chemical compound that is high in nitrogen—about 50 percent nitrogen by weight. Often referred to as a nonprotein nitrogen (NPN), it is added to the feed of cattle, sheep, and other ruminates as a protein because the action of the protozoa and bacteria in the rumen break it down into a form useful for the synthesis of essential amino acids.

Competency 0008
Understand mechanical systems in agriculture.

8. A student is troubleshooting a small engine that does not start. After checking that there is fuel in the gas tank and the air filter is clean, which of the following steps should be taken next?

  1. adjusting the needle value on the carburetor
  2. checking the spark plug for spark
  3. adjusting the throttle linkage
  4. checking the keyway in the flywheel
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: B. If an engine does not start, it is usually a problem with fuel, air, or spark. Troubleshooting a small engine is a process of elimination, and it is best to begin by starting with the least complex tests and then moving to higher levels of complexity. Checking the gas in the tank and making sure the air filter is not clogged are the first steps to take. The next step would be to remove the spark plug to determine whether or not it is producing sufficient spark for igniting the air-fuel mixture.

Competency 0009
Understand construction systems in agriculture.

9. A truss structure is most often used in which of the following parts of a barn?

  1. foundation
  2. floor system
  3. wall system
  4. roof system
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: D. A truss is a structure comprising triangles. The triangle is one of the most stable geometric designs and the truss ties together multiple triangles to build a structure that can span a large distance while remaining stable. Trusses are most often used in roof systems.

Competency 0010
Understand business management in agriculture.

10. A farmer seeking credit to expand a greenhouse business must determine the equity of the current greenhouse operation. Which of the following financial analyses will the farmer need to complete for this purpose?

  1. cash flow statement
  2. balance sheet
  3. profit and loss statement
  4. return-on-assets ratio
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: B. The owner's equity of a business is the difference between the assets and liabilities. The information is collected on the business's balance sheet, which lists the value of the assets at the top of the document, followed by the value of the liabilities. The difference between these is the owner's equity, or the net worth of the business.

Competency 0011
Understand agricultural marketing.

11. An apple orchard with a cider mill has been selling cider from its orchard directly to customers for years. The owners are planning to use social media to market their cider to people between the ages of 21 and 45 who live within 25 miles of the orchard and who state on their personal sites that they like to buy locally grown food. This approach to marketing is best described as:

  1. market segmentation.
  2. target marketing.
  3. value pricing.
  4. product placement.
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: B. In creating a marketing plan, it is necessary to identify the customers that a firm wants to focus its marketing efforts on, since businesses have limited resources. These customers are identified by factors, such as demographics, socioeconomic status, and lifestyle. This is known as a targeted market. For some social media sites, members list personal information such as hobbies, where they live, and what they like and are interested in. This allows businesses to target their marketing efforts based on the members' user profiles.

Competency 0012
Understand natural resource management.

12. The cows at a small dairy farm spend most of their time in the pasture. Which of the following additional approaches could the farm use to manage manure distribution and water quality?

  1. spreading the manure along the edges of the field
  2. moving hay feeders and salt blocks frequently
  3. placing loafing sheds in the middle of the pasture
  4. collecting the manure for storage in a lagoon
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: B. The most efficient and environmentally sound manure handling method is to apply the manure on the field and turn it over. Since this is not always possible, the next best approach is to spread the manure evenly across the field or pasture. For a small dairy operation, this can be accomplished by moving the hay feeders and salt blocks around the pasture so that the manure is evenly distributed and is not concentrated in one region.

Competency 0013
Understand food science.

13. In food science, a pH meter would most likely be used to determine the:

  1. number of calories in a soft drink.
  2. number of grams of protein in fresh milk.
  3. concentration of alcohol in a batch of wine.
  4. acidity of a vinegar solution for pickling.
Enter to expand or collapse answer.Answer expanded
Correct Response: D. Pickling is a method that preserves perishable foods by placing them in a vinegar solution. Pickling is effective because vinegar is too acidic for bacteria to survive. pH is a measure of whether a solution is acidic (low pH), neutral (pH = 7), or basic (high pH). A pH meter is used to test the solution to ensure that the vinegar is sufficiently acidic.