Sand County Almanac

Essay assignment #1

Read all of Part 1and you must also answer the following questions from Leopold's monthly entries:

[1 point @]

January

  1. For which animal does the snow mean freedom from want & fear?
  2. For which does the thaw mean freedom from want & fear?
  3. What effect does the thaw have on the exposed oak seedlings?

February

  1. How old was Leopold's firewood oak & what was its first year?
  2. The first starling in Wisconsin arrived in what year?
  3. In what year was the last Wisconsin turkey killed?
  4. What 2 things might the wood ash return as next year?

March

  1. Feeding geese prefer which cornfields?
  2. Leopold's students found that single geese were probably the result of what?

April

  1. Where did Leopold collect the wood for his lumber pile?
  2. What is the name of the small flower of sandy places? Find it's Latin name online.
  3. What organism performs the "Sky Dance" and why?

May

  1. Define the term "precocial".
  2. What species of bird mentioned has precocial chicks?

June

  1. What species of trout does he seek?

July

1. How big is Leopold's farm?

2. What makes the graveyard different from the surrounding land?

3. How do the monthly numbers of blooming species differ between the farm and the

suburbs?

4. How do cattle eating Silphium differ from the buffalo of the past eating it?

August

1. Why do Eleocharis stands not last very long?

September

1. At what level of brightness will the robin begin to sing in the morning?

October

1. The "red lanterns" that guide his grouse hunt are what?

November

1. What two divine functions does the landowner assume?

2. What advantage does each the pine and the birch hold for the grouse?

December

1.  The terminal bud of a pine is called the what?

Essay [25 points]

·  100 words + describing at least 2 naturalistic observations you have made this month. What are some changes you have noticed in the natural world?