Heirloom plants are treasured for their flavorful produce and true-breeding progeny that allow gardeners to avoid repeatedly purchasing seed from agribusiness conglomerates. What special effort is required to save seed from heirloom biennials such as carrots?

Question

A.  Since carrots produce large roots, they do not devote many resources to seed development. The roots must be trimmed before collecting seed.
B.  Since carrots build up so much beta-carotene, they do not devote many resources to seed development. A yellow carrot variety will produce better seeds than a darker one.
C.  Since carrots are related to wild weeds, they are often cross-pollinated. The green top must be bagged to ensure self-pollination.
D.  Biennials do not produce seed until the second year of growth. Although carrot roots are normally harvested after one season, they must be allowed to grow another year for seed collection.

Clarify Question
What is the key concept addressed by the question?
What type of thinking is required?

Gather Content
What do you already know about biennials? What other information is related to the question?

Choose Answer
Given what you now know, what information is most likely to produce the correct answer?

Reflect on Process
Did your problem-solving process lead you to the correct answer? If not, where did the process break down or lead you astray? How can you revise your approach to produce a more desirable result?

Answer 1

D.  Biennials do not produce seed until the second year of growth. Although carrot roots are normally harvested after one season, they must be allowed to grow another year for seed collection.

Clarify Question
What is the key concept addressed by the question?
        · This question is asking you to recognize the stages in the lifecycle of a biennial plant.
What type of thinking is required?
        · Analyze level:
            o This is an analyze question because you have to break biennials and seed production into their component pieces to understand how they function.

Gather Content
What do you already know about biennials? What other information is related to the question?
        · Biennials do not flower in the first year of their life.
        · Flowers are necessary reproductive structures that give rise to seeds.
        · Biennial plants that are harvested as crops are typically harvested for their leaves and/or their roots, which grow during the first year.
        · If a biennial plant is harvested during its first year, it will not have produced flowers or seeds.

Choose Answer
Given what you now know, what information is most likely to produce the correct answer?
        · Trimming roots only removes tissue and possible food storage sites. This would not induce flowering, as the plant must mature before flowering occurs.
        · Beta-carotene is not a factor in seed development.
        · The green top of a carrot is not a flowering structure, so it would not contain pollen.
        · Keeping in mind that carrots are biennials, they would not flower or produce seeds until the second year of their life. If the plants are not removed after the first year and instead are allowed to grow, in the second year of life seeds could be harvested from the flowers that occur at that time.

Reflect on Process
Did your problem-solving process lead you to the correct answer? If not, where did the process break down or lead you astray? How can you revise your approach to produce a more desirable result?
        · Analyze level:
            o Answering this question correctly depended not only on distinguishing between growth and flowering, but on your ability to analyze the lifecycle of a biennial. If you got an incorrect answer, did you remember that components of the lifecycle of a biennial include a year of growth before maturation, or that flowering and seed production does not occur until the second year? Did you have trouble breaking down the biennial life cycle to determine the correct answer?