Focus of my initial Minnesota Master Naturalist study was the series studying the eastern broadleaf forest that encompasses about 12 million acres of the state including the county where I live. The "Big Woods, Big Rivers" biome makes a diagonal slash across the state of Minnesota, starting at the NW corner of the state with a narrow band and widening out in the southeast. Three of the largest rivers in the state are found in this region: the Mississippi, the St. Croix, and the Minnesota. http://www.minnesotamasternaturalist.org/
As my Capstone Project for the series, I developed a lesson
"A Pencil is the Best Tool to See Nature". I offer it for kids or adults in after-school programs, nature centers, and community centers. The lesson objectives are to provoke participants' interest in nature here in Minnesota, and to inspire each one to enjoy looking closely at plants, animals, and natural objects. Why "look" with a pencil? While studying botanical art, I came to appreciate that drawing is a form of deep looking. For me, drawing or painting a plant or natural object is an excellent way to observe it closely. Making artwork inspired by nature helps me to better understand nature and to see how the behavior of a plant is related to its structure or anatomy.
The "Prairies and Potholes" biome was the focus of my second series studied. Officially known as the Prairie Parkland Province, this area in southwestern Minnesota was historically composed mainly of tallgrass prairie. Today it is mostly agricultural land. Glacial kettles in the northern part of this 16 million acres have filled with water and form the "potholes" that dot the landscape. These bodies of water are important for waterfowl production and migration in North America.
The "North Woods, Great Lakes" biome was the focus of my third series studied. This area in northern Minnesota is otherwise named the Laurentian Mixed Forest. Approximately 23 million acres in the northeast portion of Minnesota, the region contains many lakes and the landscape ranges from swamps and bogs to exposed bedrock. It contains a vast array of diverse plants due to the large variation of growing degree days and the amount of snowfall that falls in a particular area.
