While most people can recognize the logos and trademarks of the world’s trans-national corporations and sing along to their advertisement jingles, less and less have a detailed knowledge of their natural environment.
Only if we have an understanding of the importance of the diverse species and natural cycles in our local ecosystems will we be able to act responsibly when they are coming under threat of over-exploitation, pollution or destruction.
A Bioregional Quiz
Can you answer the following questions about the area you live in? Each right answer adds one point to your final score. The quiz is self-assessed. If you need to cheat, take it as an indication of how well you know your own environment.
- Trace the water you drink from precipitation to tap.
- How many days till the moon is full? (give or take two days)
- What soil series are you standing on?
- What was the total rainfall in your area during June and July of last year?
- When was the last time a fire burned your area?
- What were the primary subsistence techniques of the culture that lived in your area before?
- Name five native edible plants in your region and their season(s) of availability?
- From what directions do winter storms generally come from in your area?
- Where does your garbage go?
- How long is the growing season where you live?
- On what day of the year are the shadows the shortest where you live?
- When do the deer rut in your region, and when are the young born?
- Name five grasses in your area. Are any of them native?
- Name five resident and five migratory birds in your area.
- What is the land use history where you live?
- What primary ecological event/process influenced the land form where you live?
- What species have become extinct in your area?
- What are the major plant associations in your region?
- From where you are reading this, point north.
- What spring flower is consistently among the first to bloom where you live?
Scoring:
0 –3 You have your head in the sand.
4 –7 It’s hard to be two places at once when you’re not anywhere at all.
8–12 A fairly firm grasp of the obvious.
13–16 You are paying attention.
17–19 You know where you’re at.
20 You not only know where you’re at, you know where it’s at.
(based on Where you at? — A Bioregional Quiz, Leonard Charles)