30 questions to elevate your awareness (and
literacy) of the greater place in which you live:
1) Point north. [Recommendations for answer
methods]
2) What time is sunset today?
[Recommendations]
3) Trace the water you drink from rainfall to
your tap. [Recommendations]
4) When you flush, where do the solids go? What
happens to the waste water? [Recommendations]
5) How many feet above sea level are you?
[Recommendations]
6) What spring wildflower is consistently among
the first to bloom here? [Recommendations]
7) How far do you have to travel before you reach
a different watershed? Can you draw the boundaries of yours?
[Recommendations]
8) Is the soil under your feet, more clay, sand,
rock or silt? [Recommendations]
9) Before your tribe lived here, what did the
previous inhabitants eat and how did they sustain themselves?
[Recommendations]
10) Name five native edible plants in your
neighborhood and the season(s) they are available.
[Recommendations]
11) From what direction do storms generally come?
[Recommendations]
12) Where does your garbage go?
[Recommendations]
13) How many people live in your watershed?
[Recommendations]
14) Who uses the paper/plastic you recycle from
your neighborhood? [Recommendations]
15) Point to where the sun sets on the equinox.
How about sunrise on the summer solstice? [Recommendations]
16) Where is the nearest earthquake fault? When
did it last move? [Recommendations]
17) Right here, how deep do you have to drill
before you reach water? [Recommendations]
18) Which (if any) geological features in your
watershed are, or were, especially respected by your community, or
considered sacred, now or in the past? [Recommendations]
19) How many days is the growing season here
(from frost to frost)? [Recommendations]
20) Name five birds that live here. Which are
migratory and which stay put? [Recommendations]
21) What was the total rainfall here last year?
[Recommendations]
22) Where does the pollution in your air come
from? [Recommendations]
23) If you live near the ocean, when is high tide
today? [Recommendations]
24) What primary geological processes or events
shaped the land here? [Recommendations]
25) Name three wild species that were not found
here 500 years ago. Name one exotic species that has appeared in
the last 5 years. [Recommendations]
26) What minerals are found in the ground here
that are (or were) economically valuable? [Recommendations]
27) Where does your electric power come from and
how is it generated? [Recommendations]
28) After the rain runs off your roof, where does
it go? [Recommendations]
29) Where is the nearest wilderness? When was the
last time a fire burned through it? [Recommendations]
30) How many days till the moon is full?
[Recommendations]
The Bigger Here Bonus Questions:
31) What species once found here are known to
have gone extinct? [Recommendations]
32) What other cities or landscape features on
the planet share your latitude? [Recommendations]
33) What was the dominant land cover plant here
10,000 years ago? [Recommendations]
34) Name two places on different continents that
have similar sunshine/rainfall/wind and temperature patterns to
here. [Recommendations]
1. Cultural Literacy - What Every...
