Interpretation

Bleah!  Double bleah!

I met with Cheri last Wednesday afternoon and unfortunately, by evening time, I had a sore throat.  Yes, that harbinger of a cold had left its death mark on my nasal passages.  By Thursday morning, I had the full-blown acid drip and I started medicating... zinc, vitamin C, Mucinex, pseudoepinephrine, aspirin, the works. 

Since then, things have gone through the usual stages, about one set of symptoms per day.  I had a miserable Friday night with congestion and I wisely gave up on my intention to go to interpretation training at the BioPark. 

As consolation, I'm posting below, one set of exercises that I had completed before the evile rhinovirus attacked me. 

Exhibit Interpretation Worksheet

Topic: Deserts plants

Conservation Message: Deserts = good, desertification = bad.

Three interesting things that I want my audience to learn

(Strive to include the “wow!” factor while building the knowledge they’ll need to understand your conservation message.)

• Deserts are big. (They cover almost 1/5 of the Earth's land surface and are home to about 1 billion people.)
• Deserts are diverse. (Many rare species, many plant species related to important crop species, many fascinating human cultures.)
• Deserts and arid lands are used in many ways, but must be carefully managed to avoid “desertification.”

How I will make each of the facts above meaningful

(Hint: relate it to your audience, use intangible ideas, appeal to universal concepts)

• Use a map or globe to point out deserts. Talk about where NM deserts are located.
• Invite the audience to count or estimate the number of species in the Desert Conservatory. Ask what crops are related to desert plants.
• Ask the audience to picture what happens to a lawn in ABQ that is not watered. Talk about historical changes in NM over the past 150 years. Discuss the biofuel plant at Columbus, wind and solar energy generation in the NM.

Three more facts I want my audience to learn

(in case I get bored of talking about the previous topics, or in case my audience is so intrigued they want to stay and learn more)

• Desert plants are special. (They have many special adaptations: anatomy, chemistry, photosynthesis.)
• Deserts are shaped by wind and water.
• Deserts can be cold... very cold.

How I will make each of these additional facts meaningful

• In the Desert Conservatory, ask audience to point out structural adaptations of the plants. Discuss phytochemistry (including remedios and pharmaceuticals). Discuss how important CAM and C4 photosynthesis are in crop plants.
• Look at sand hills and/or examine desert pavement in conservatory.
• The world's largest deserts are cold deserts in the Antarctic and Arctic. Use a globe or map to point out polar deserts. ABQ's nearby Great Basin Desert is only 9^th largest. Other North American deserts are even smaller. Mars has huge deserts many times larger than the Sahara.

Three questions I can ask to facilitate discussion about my topic

• Imagine you are lost in a desert. What do you need to survive? Do the native plants and animals need the same things? How do they manage to live in a desert?
• What does “desertification” mean to you?
• Can you name some important foods that are themselves or are related to desert species?

Our Actions Matter. The one action I will recommend to my audience and an explanation of WHY it matters.

Consider xeriscaping an area of your home landscape. This will reduce water consumption and your water bill. Water conservation has allowed Albuquerque to keep its water use at the same level as 20 years ago despite tremendous population growth. By limiting domestic landscape water use, more water is available for wildlife, aquifer recharge, agriculture, and industry.

Tools I might need to teach about this topic:

• Globe or world map
• Map of NM
• Desert Conservatory species list
• Before and after pictures of NM landscapes and Albuquerque area
• Some curandera samples derived from desert plants
• Xeriscaping pamphlet, poster