Where you at?

A Bioregional Quiz
This is a self-scoring test on basic environmental perception of place. Scoring is on the honour system, so if you fudge, cheat or elude, you also get an idea of where youre at! The object is not to prove anything, but simply to find out what you know and what you do not know. 1. Trace the water you drink from precipitation to tap.

2. How many days until the moon is full?

3. What kind of soil are you standing on right now? (yes, below all that other stuff!)

4. What was the total rainfall in your area last year (July to June)?

5. Name 5 native edible plants in your region and their season(s) of availability.

6. From what direction do winter storms generally come in your region?

7. Where does your rubbish go?

8. How long is the growing season where you live?

9. On what day of the year are the shadows shortest where you live?

10.Name 5 resident and 5 migratory birds in your area.

11.What is the land use history of where you live?

12.What primary ecological event/process influenced the land form where you live? (a bonus point if you can pinpoint the evidence!)

13.What species have become extinct in your area?

14.From where youre reading this, point North. 15. What spring wildflower is consistently among the first to bloom where you live?

This type of quiz is sometimes referred to as the tourist test or the alien test, reflecting how common it is for us to be tourists or aliens in our own back gardens or local countryside. While our ancestors knew the landscape around them intimately, knowing the names and uses of trees, plants, mammals, birds, insects and more many of us now have lost these essential connections to the places where we live. Finding out the answers to the questions above is one way of beginning a deeper association with our life places. Further reading: Home! A Bioregional Reader (New Society Publishers, 1990) Young, Jon Kamana One: Exploring Natural Mystery (OWL, 2001)