Spring has sprung! Get out and explore the wondrous diversity in your own backyard!

Challenge: Biodiversity is all around us, but it’s easy to overlook. “Reframe” the natural world around you by creating a biodiversity collage.

What to do:

1. Collect natural items from your yard or neighborhood. Hint: Biodiversity is the variety of life on earth. Plants, animals and other living organisms are all part of the biodiversity of your backyard ecosystem. For this activity, we’ll also include objects made by animals like an empty snail shell, old wasp nest or even scat!
2. Find an empty picture frame (or create your own with items from nature).
3. Arrange the items inside your frame to create a unique biodiversity collage. Create a design, a scene or portrait.
4. Share your backyard art with us! Tag the @FloridaMuseum on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and be sure to include #BackyardBiodiversity

Members Only: For a chance to be featured in the next issue of Membership Monday, send your submission to membership@flmnh.ufl.edu by noon on Sunday, April 19. One lucky submission will be chosen at random to receive a puzzle prize from our Collectors Shop!

Dig Deeper

• Do all of the items in your collage represent true biodiversity (something that is or was living?)
• How many of the natural items in your collage can you identify?
• Can you identify which items in your collage are native species and which are non-native?