Course Toolkit

A basic understanding of the parts and processes of our mountain ecosystem seems an essential prerequisite to working to maintain or restore the EI of that ecosystem, so we adapted the Web of Life activity as follows: Three artists, with three flipcharts, illustrating three life zones characteristic of our natural area (montane, subalpine, alpine) -- all going simultaneously. With help from everyone, each artist is asked to draw:

• first, 2 abiotic components characteristic of their given life zone
• then, 4 biotic components characteristic of their given life zone
• then, 2 processes characteristic of their given life zone

Finally, the artist (again with help from other participants, and leading questions by the facilitators if necessary) is asked to describe, while drawing connecting lines, some of the connections between all these components and processes

• You end up with a pretty messy drawing, but it's fun and functional.