Botany Awards for the Regional Science Fair of New Mexico

Information compiled by the NPSNM Albuquerque Chapter

The Native Plant Society (NPSNM) seeks to stimulate interest in New Mexico native plants and encourage more entries. The society sponsors the Botany Division and offers awards in both Junior and Senior Botany Divisions. In both Divisions, first place awards have been increased to $200 and second place awards to $175.

WHY FOCUS ON NATIVE PLANTS FOR A SCIENCE FAIR PROJECT?

Native plants need and deserve our appreciation and protection for their continued existence and for the general health of our environment in this and future generations.

Native plants require little water and are adapted to our soil and climate.

Native plants have unique traits that contribute to biological diversity and add beauty richness, and complexity to their regions.

WHAT ARE THE CRITERIA FOR ENTRY INTO THE NATIVE PLANT CATEGORY?

Projects must focus on a native plant or native plants.

Non-native plants can threaten native plants. Non-natives may qualify if there is a clear explanation which connects them to native plants.

WHAT IS A NATIVE PLANT?

Make sure the plant selected for study qualifies as a native plant. Now that the New Mexico flora is relatively well-known, it is easy to make a "native or alien" determination by comparing the Index of New Mexico Plant Names by Kelly Allred to the list of Alien Plants Known in New Mexico by George Cox. If a plant occurs in the New Mexico flora and is not on the list of alien species, then it is probably native.

Visit the NPSNM web site and click on "What is a Native Plant?" (To determine the scientific name of a plant, a search can be made using the common name of the plant at Biodiversity on the Internet- Flora2K).

WHAT ARE GOOD REFERENCES TO USE TO IDENTIFY THE PROJECT PLANT?

(1) Ivey, DeWitt. 1998. Flowering Plants of New Mexico, 3rd Edition. "Ways to Identify Plants: On Taxonomic Keys", pp 5-23. Published by the author.

(2) Niehaus, Theodore F. 1984. A Field Guide to Southwestern and Texas Wildflowers. Peterson Field Guide Series No. 31. Houghton Mifflin Co.

WHAT ARE SOME TIPS FOR HIGHER QUALITY PROJECTS?

It is important to be sure the plant under investigation will qualify as a native plant before the project is started.

Projects with live plants must be started in time to allow for growing time.

Careful consideration and use of the Scientific Method is highly recommended. Refer to Science Fair instruction.

WHERE TO GET HELP?

Helpful information is available through the Native Plant Society of New Mexico's web site or the Science Fair Office at 505-277-4916.