Cavendish banana

High school (ages 12+)
Food & Cooking

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/cavendish-banana

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the scientific classification?Cavendish subgroup of the AAA banana cultivar group (Musa acuminata)
2. What is the primary propagation method?Asexual reproduction through vegetative means (cloning)
3. How do Cavendish bananas grow?Instead of making seeds, farmers take a small piece called a sucker or use tissue cultures from an existing plant. These pieces grow into new plants that are exactly the same as the original.
4. Why is the Cavendish banana at risk from disease?All Cavendish plants are genetically identical, so if a disease like Panama disease can infect one plant, it can spread quickly to all of them. The large, single‑crop farms make it even easier for the disease to move around.

Monoculture: The cultivation of a single crop in a given area.
Genetic Diversity: The total number of genetic characteristics in the genetic makeup of a species.
Vegetative Propagation: A form of asexual reproduction in plants where new individuals arise from vegetative parts.
Fusarium Wilt (Panama Disease): A devastating soil-borne fungal disease that attacks the vascular system of plants.