What could be a more fitting way to celebrate our planet than by deepening your knowledge of the patch of Earth on which you live?
Here are 20 opportunities to explore deeper into the place you live through a series of questions. You can use each question as a potential nature journal prompt, an artistic prompt, or a way to get to know the world better.
![Moody Washington State ferry watercolor by Maria Coryell-Martin](https://atk.imgix.net/blog/2022/08/WYA-4-Total-Rainfall.jpg?w=640&h=640&q=40&auto=format&ixlib=js-2.3.1&s=6e1512a844c96d4ff8d72697049c18fc)
What was the total rainfall in your area last year?
Washington State Ferry watercolor by Maria Coryell-Martin
![Goat Peak Lookout watercolor by Maria Coryell-Martin](https://atk.imgix.net/blog/2022/08/WYA-5-Fire-Burned.jpg?w=640&h=640&q=40&auto=format&ixlib=js-2.3.1&s=3aedcb570e62bd44065462c953aa8401)
When was the last time a fire burned in your area?
Goat Peak fire lookout by Maria Coryell-Martin
![Full moon watercolor by Maria Coryell-Martin](https://atk.imgix.net/blog/2022/08/WYA-2-Full-Moon.jpg?w=640&h=640&q=40&auto=format&ixlib=js-2.3.1&s=4a12649765313b443a35c5c6fa85b9aa)
How many days until the moon is full?
Full moon watercolor by Maria Coryell-Martin
![Soil samples watercolors by Nakaia Macomber-Millman](https://atk.imgix.net/blog/2022/08/WYA-3-Soil-Series.jpg?w=640&h=640&q=40&auto=format&ixlib=js-2.3.1&s=c7f88abb65a25e3d2c3d2f5ac1328e78)
What soil series are you standing on?
Soil samples watercolors by Nakaia Macomber-Millman
![Edible plants watercolor by Nakaia Macomber-Millman](https://atk.imgix.net/blog/2022/08/WYA-6-Edible-Plants.png?w=640&h=640&q=40&auto=format&ixlib=js-2.3.1&s=f4a3c10fc3ec7cdfdc2cb4a22201825b)
What are five edible plants in your region and their season(s) of availability?
Edible plants watercolor by Nakaia Macomber-Millman
![Chum salmon watercolor by Maria Coryell-Martin](https://atk.imgix.net/blog/2022/08/WYA-7-How-Did-They-Sustain.jpg?w=640&h=640&q=40&auto=format&ixlib=js-2.3.1&s=4b41c83e90bd89717e0f5da742aa4eb9)
How did the culture that lived in your area before you feed itself? Did it rely on foraging directly from the environment, raising animals, a simple system for growing plants in gardens, or did they have a complex agricultural system that included irrigating, plowing, fertilizing, and harvesting from large tracts of land?
Chum salmon illustration by Maria Coryell-Martin
![Moody iceberg watercolor by Maria Coryell-Martin](https://atk.imgix.net/blog/2022/08/WYA-8-Winter-Storms.jpg?w=640&h=640&q=40&auto=format&ixlib=js-2.3.1&s=ef09d9a53c1be7356670947ea68f7fc3)
From which direction do winter storms generally come in your region?
Moody iceberg watercolor by Maria Coryell-Martin
![Where does your garbage go? By Nhatt Nichols](https://atk.imgix.net/blog/2022/08/WYA-9-Garbage.jpg?w=640&h=640&q=40&auto=format&ixlib=js-2.3.1&s=cd9f0d7717720931cc679524e0ea267a)
Where does your garbage go?
Litter illustration by Nhatt Nichols
![Garden peas watercolor by Nakaia Macomber-Millman](https://atk.imgix.net/blog/2022/08/WYA-10-Growing-Season.jpg?w=640&h=640&q=40&auto=format&ixlib=js-2.3.1&s=7fca542a81ec1f7e8c4217ad05f61d50)
How long is the growing season where you live?
Garden peas watercolor by Nakaia Macomber-Millman
![Sled dog watercolor by Maria Coryell-Martin](https://atk.imgix.net/blog/2022/08/WYA-11-Shadows.jpg?w=640&h=640&q=40&auto=format&ixlib=js-2.3.1&s=0202b5ea2374df8a621a64697cd47230)
On what day of the year are the shadows the shortest where you live?
Greenland sled dog watercolor by Maria Coryell-Martin
![Deer watercolor by Maria Coryell-Martin](https://atk.imgix.net/blog/2022/08/WYA-12-Deer.jpg?w=640&h=640&q=40&auto=format&ixlib=js-2.3.1&s=3c852fbfd1bff9c220ed78a865d36bb2)
When do the deer rut in your region, and when are the young born?
Deer watercolor by Maria Coryell-Martin
![Grass texture watercolor by Nakaia Macomber-Millman](https://atk.imgix.net/blog/2022/08/WYA-13-Grasses.jpg?w=640&h=640&q=40&auto=format&ixlib=js-2.3.1&s=573bf1bf55015f55676d7a113dd354c6)
Name five grasses in your area. Are any of them native?
Grasses watercolor by Nakaia Macomber-Millman
![Arctic tern watercolor by Maria Coryell-Martin](https://atk.imgix.net/blog/2022/08/WYA-14-Resident-and-Migratory-Birds.jpg?w=640&h=640&q=40&auto=format&ixlib=js-2.3.1&s=6c1f92e0719742ad086358fe4e0186d0)
Name five resident and five migratory birds in your area.
Arctic terns watercolor by Maria Coryell-Martin
![Chimicum Valley farmland watercolor by Maria Coryell-Martin](https://atk.imgix.net/blog/2022/08/WYA-15-History-of-the-Land.png?w=640&h=640&q=40&auto=format&ixlib=js-2.3.1&s=ca22aa6035f1233f3a864773386761f0)
What is the history of how the land has been used where you live? Was it a farm or an orchard? Hunting grounds or a village?
Chimicum Valley farmland watercolor by Maria Coryell-Martin
![Mount Baker icefall watercolor by Maria Coryell-Martin](https://atk.imgix.net/blog/2022/08/WYA-16-Ecological-Event.jpg?w=640&h=640&q=40&auto=format&ixlib=js-2.3.1&s=7a30ff04238acc3142b705c8f2684753)
What primary ecological event or process influenced the way the land is formed where you live? (Bonus: What’s the evidence?)
Mount Baker icefall watercolor by Maria Coryell-Martin
![Dinosaur illustration by Stella Coryell](https://atk.imgix.net/blog/2022/08/WYA-17-Extinct.jpg?w=640&h=640&q=40&auto=format&ixlib=js-2.3.1&s=e89d5baa3cc96f3841025f548329062a)
What species have become extinct in your area?
Dinosaur illustrations by Stella Coryell and Maria Coryell-Martin
![First spring wildflower watercolor by Nakaia Macomber-Millman](https://atk.imgix.net/blog/2022/08/WYA-1-First-Spring-Wildflower.jpg?w=640&h=640&q=40&auto=format&ixlib=js-2.3.1&s=fcb14e16389b78308b1c3e3a8c6f4420)
What spring wildflower is consistently among the first to bloom where you live?
Western trillium illustration by Nakaia Macomber-Millman
![Berries and flowers ink and watercolors by Nakaia Macomber-Millman](https://atk.imgix.net/blog/2022/08/WYA-18-Plant-Associations.jpg?w=640&h=640&q=40&auto=format&ixlib=js-2.3.1&s=f052931612ea1eed6a665f5299cbc5bb)
What are the major plant associations in your region? An association is the basic vegetation unit floristically defined from field data. Each association has a distinctive faithful species and a group of high-presence or constant species, which give the community or association a cohesive structure.
Berries and flowers illustration by Nakaia Macomber-Millman
![Port Townsend beach watercolor by Maria Coryell-Martin](https://atk.imgix.net/blog/2022/08/WYA-19-Water.jpg?w=640&h=640&q=40&auto=format&ixlib=js-2.3.1&s=c370afede181e3ee476a3ddaa5050d26)
Can you trace the water you drink from precipitation to tap?
Port Townsend beach watercolor by Maria Coryell-Martin
![Above the Ice watercolor by Maria Coryell-Martin](https://atk.imgix.net/blog/2022/08/WYA-20-North.jpg?w=640&h=640&q=40&auto=format&ixlib=js-2.3.1&s=425162107e9387c22d34faefbc73fc70)
From where you’re reading this, point north.
Above the Ice watercolor by Maria Coryell-Martin
Big thanks to Nakaia Macomber-Millman, Nhatt Nichols, Stella Coryell, and Maria Coryell-Martin for lending their artistic talent to these prompts and to the Where Are You At Bioregional Quiz for the inspirational questions!