Introduction
While watching this documentary on the life of early man (thanks to my cousin who wanted some information for a school project), it was interesting to note that people during these times were of the nomadic types and had not yet even begun to 'settle down' literally speaking.
Of course, the next age was the time when they began to do so and this was the period in which man began to try his luck at farming which meant that the possibility of settling down and making homes for themselves were also a reality as opposed to moving from one place to another, which some people consider to be parasitic in nature.
Yes, we live in an age now when all that was unthinkable, thanks to the 'age of reason' which was a time when man began to think for himself as opposed to just believing. Science and technology has changed our lives in a way that people from those days can only dare to imagine in their wildest dreams.
For example, people would not even be able to understand how plants grow at time, and since we're not in the neolithic age anymore, this knowledge is imparted to students in elementary school.
How plants grow
The biggest between plants and the rest of the living species on this planet is that they cannot move, and so the dependence on the other elements of nature to do the work for them is a factor that cannot be overlooked.
Very simply, an animal can move around and get food to eat (and thus grow) while plants cannot, and so they have to depend on sunlight and water and use them in separate processes known as photosynthesis and respiration in order to help them grow.
And just like all creatures require food to grow, plants have to use the process of photosynthesis to be able to produce food (namely sugars) for their sustenance. In short, the leaves of most plants combine CO2, light energy and water to make these sugars with no other part of the plant participating in this activity.
The process of photosynthesis is so important for our planet that if it ceased to exist, one could consider Earth ceasing to exist as well. We humans, are but a small species, on a large planet.
Truth be told, with the food mostly stored in the form of sugars, the plant gets all it needs to grow from here on, and while this process is an ongoing one, that is why that little seed you planted in your garden will grow into a seedling and then into a shrub and in a few years time, a tree.
From the aspect of humans, with the process of the absorption of carbon-di-oxide and the release of oxygen as a waste product by plants, you can imagine why biologists insist on planting more trees everywhere while lamenting on the depletion of forest everywhere. Yes, the ecological balance is at stake here, and it is time to pay attention to that.
In Closing
The cycles of birth and death occur everywhere but since our delicate ecosystem is symbiotic in nature, the growing importance of keeping every species of herbs and plants alive is vital to our survival as well.
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