You are running a table at the seed swap. You have a variety of different beans on your table - all of which are capable of interbreeding. A 14 year old walks up and asks why you have so many varieties. They say that at their house they eat kidney beans, black beans, and pinto beans and that seems to be just fine. Explain to them why you keep so many bean varieties and how this is related to climate change. [20pts]
You are talking to a group of environmentally-conscious Indiana farmers who are concerned about climate change and interested in other farming methods. Compare and contrast the agroforestry approach to growing food and the monoculture "corn & soybeans" way of growing food. Where do each of these systems excel? Where do each of them have some drawbacks? Are there certain perennial crops you would suggest? How can the monoculture "corn & soybeans" systems be improved? How do you talk about these topics to make them most accessible to your audience? [25pts]
How will you relate the story of the sea otters/urchins/kelp to a story more local to the Midwest? What Midwestern systems will you use and what concepts will you focus most on? How will you make climate change most evident as part of these lessons? [35pts]
What do we mean by a "Nature Based Solution to Climate Change"? How, as environmental educators, can you leverage these as accessible and workable solutions for a rural Indiana audience? Please provide two examples of NBS for climate change at Merry Lea and how they might be used better in programs centered around the idea of climate change. [20pts]