So a friend sent me this course assesment from a
PDC he's participating in. I thought it'd be fun to post the questions and see if anyone here wants to tackle a
permaculture quiz!
PDC Assessment Questions
I. Observation and Pattern Recognition
1. You were brought blindfolded into an area you’d never been in a region you were
familiar with.
a. Describe three ways you could determine which way is north/south and
what the prevalent wind direction is in a location on an overcast cloudy
day.
b. What would you do to determine what the soils are like?
c. What would you do to assess the depth of the
water table?
d. What would you do to assess the microclimate of the site relative to the
region?
2. Why is strategic process design more important than physical design and
placement?
3. If inoculation is the preferred pattern for all designs and interventions (least
change greatest effect), describe inoculation processes for each of the following:
food preservation, human health, soil health, watershed health, forest ecosystem
health, grassland ecosystem health, human community health, economic health.
4. Describe successional processes in at least four of the above communities.
5. Why are patterns useful in design?
6. How are patterns useful in understanding systems?
7. How do patterns differ from structures or forms?
8. How can design shift the course of society?
II. Ecology and Systems
9. Describe the needs and outputs of one animal, one plant, one landscape and one
community.
10. Name five plants that reside within walking distance to your home and two useful
outputs for each of them.
11. What is a nitrogen-fixing plant and why is it important?
12. Name three values of water in the landscape.
13. Name three values of stone in the landscape.
14. Name five services
trees provide in a landscape.
15. Name four services animals in a landscape provide.
16. Name three values of mulch and materials which can be used as mulch.
17. What does the term “brittle landscape” mean and name two brittle and two nonbrittle
areas of the world. Do you live in a relatively brittle or non-brittle climate?
What aspects of your
local climate or landscape make it relatively non-brittle or
brittle?
18. Define “ecological succession” and name two pioneer species and two climax
species.
19. Define “disturbance” as used in ecology.
20. What is the relationship between elevation and temperature, between elevation
and moisture, between elevation and wind, and between elevation and soil depth?
21. Plants commonly referred to as weeds are in fact fulfilling needed roles for the
ecosystem. Give an example of how each of the following 'weeds' can help our
soil and/or ecosystem: Plaintain, burdock, dandelion, clovers,
nettles, and thistles.
22. Where you live, what is the highest angle the sun reaches in the summer and on
what date is that? What is the lowest and on what date is that?
III. Solutions,
Permaculture Design Process, Design Mechanics
23. Define what site analysis means. What two particular aspects of a location does
site analysis aim to understand patterns about? Name five site analysis map titles
commonly performed in
permaculture design.
24. Name three processes you would be looking for during a site walk.
25. Name three or more features you
should be identifying during a site walk.
26. Draw a windbreak in cross section and show how wind movement is changed by
it.
27. Draw a 35% grade/slope in cross section on paper to scale.
28. Draw topographic map showing two hills and a valley, show which way is north,
and mark the coldest and warmest microclimates as well as the wettest and driest
areas.
29. Define a contour line.
30. Define zones 0 through 5 and name two elements you would place in each zone
or that should reside in each zone.
31. Name three site elements to locate in the beginning of the design process and
three elements that are better to site later on.
32. What element should be on any map or plan you produce, if it represents a
physical place?
33. Describe two ways to find a contour on a slope.
34. If you don’t have trace paper how can you make overlays?
35. Describe two ways to enlarge a map or plan while maintaining accurate
proportions.
36. What are two sources of topographic information for most any site in North
America?
37. What is the difference between an engineer’s ruler and architect’s ruler?
38. What is the length of your pace?
IV. Principles, Strategies, Vocabulary
39. Define edge-effect and give an example of edge-effect in practice
40. Define slow it, spread it, sink it and why this is an important strategy
41. Define the term “guild.”
42. Name five primary
permaculture principles.
43. Why are swales important? Name three of their functions in a landscape.
44. Define the difference and similarities between swales, terraces, ponds and paddies.
45. What is a base map?
46. Define the term “limiting factor.”
47. What is a regenerative system?
48. What is the fundamental difference between mining and farming?
49. Name two active ways to change the climate of a building and two passive ones.
50. What is hugelculture and why is it useful?
51. What is
biochar and why is it useful?
52. Name the three primary soil types and one characteristics or values of each.
53. What is a
staple food versus a nutrient dense food?
54. Define the term “thermal mass.”
55. Define “percent slope/grade”
56. Define the term “stacking functions.”
57. Describe three reasons to save seed.
58. Define the “Yeomans Scale of Permanence.”
59. What is mob-stocked or intensive rotational grazing and why is it valuable?
60. Define the term "bioregional herbalism"
61. List three
medicinal plants that grow in your
yard, field, or forest. For each
indicate what part is used and what it treats.
62. “Nature cure” is based upon health restoration rather than disease treatment.
Draw a diagram that illustrates nature cure and the process of healing related to
acute and chronic disease.
63. A key concept in “nature cure” is the order of intervention, also known as the
therapeutic order or order of therapeutics. This is a set of 6 guidelines based upon
the observation of how healing occurs in nature. List these guidelines.
64. The three types of remediation are Phyto, Myco and Bio. Give an example of
each and how you would apply it in your garden.
65. Herbs can be planted or encouraged for soil medicine. What are two herbs that
increase calcium in the soil (one is well known for planting along
chicken runs
and thickening egg shells)?
66. What are two
wild edibles and two wild fruits that grow in your area and how can
you integrate them into your garden design.
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