Requirements

To earn this interest project you must complete the two Skill Builder activities, one Technology, Service Project, and one Career Exploration activity. Also complete two activities from any category that you choose.

Several of the requirements involve research. For example, there are ways to rate how endangered an animal or plant is. You will learn about these different ratings if you do requirements 1- 5 in Skill Builders. We suggest you put together a booklet with your findings and any other research you do to share with others.

SKILL BUILDERS

1. There are many kinds of animals that are considered critically endangered, including the Black Rhino, Cross River Gorilla, Hawksbill Turtle, Malayan Tiger, Mountain Gorilla, Orangutan, South China Tiger, Sumatran Tiger, Western Lowland Gorilla, Vaquita, and Yangtze Finless Porpoise. Research an animal from this list and discover what they need for habitat and what the threats are to their survival. How can people help them?

2. There are many kinds of animals considered endangered, including the African Wild Dog, Asian Elephant, Bengal Tiger, Black-footed Ferret, Blue Whale, Chimpanzee, Galapagos Penguin, Green Turtle, Indian Elephant, and Red Panda. Research an animal from this list and discover what they need for habitat and what the threats are to their survival. How can people help them?

3. There are many kinds of animals considered vulnerable, including the African Elephant, Big Eye Tuna, Black Spider Monkey, Giant Panda, Polar Bear, Hippopotamus, Sea Turtle and Snow Leopard. Research an animal from this list and discover what they need for habitat and what the threats are to their survival. How can people help them?

4. There are many kinds of animals considered near threatened, including the Albacore Tuna, Beluga, Jaguar, White Rhino, Arctic Fox, Arctic Wolf, Brown Bear, Gray Whale, Monarch Butterfly, Pacific Salmon, Penguin and Poison Dart Frog. Research an animal from this list and discover what they need for habitat and what the threats are to their survival. How can people help them?

5. There are many critically endangered plants in the United States. These include the Desert Yellowhead, Virginia Round-Leaf Birch, Capa Rose, Persistent Trillium, Miccosukee Gooseberry, Franklin Tree, Forest Gardenia, Western Prairie Fringed Orchid, Georgia Aster, Oauchita, Mountain Goldenrod, Arizona Agave, and Texas Wild Rice. Research a plan from this list and discover what kind of habitat it has and what the threats are to its survival. How can people help them?

6. Chemicals used on lawns and crop fields can end up in streams, rivers, and wetlands. These chemicals can make plants and sick or kill them. DDT was a pesticide used in the 1960s to control insects. The sprayed insects and chemical got into rivers and streams and caused contamination. Research DDT and find out what happened and why laws were passed against using it. Share your findings with others.

7. If your family puts any fertilizers or weed killers on your lawn read the label on the product. Are there any warnings on the package? Research the chemicals in it. Are they really safe? How might the chemical affect plants and animals?

8. Create a piece of art featuring an endangered animal. Take a piece of plain colored cloth and use fabric paints, iron on transfers, or other pieces of fabric to make the picture. Wrap it around a piece of cardboard, fasten it down tightly with duct tape or packing tape and put it in a frame. Keep it as a keepsake or give it as a gift to someone who likes animals. You can also draw a picture or paint one if fabric is not available.

9. Make a floral shirt to remind yourself about endangered plants. Materials needed are:
100% cotton white tee shirts, prewashed and dried.
Cardboard

Rubbing alcohol
Cotton balls

Various colored permanent markers (like Sharpie brand)
Old newspapers

Directions:
Put down a layer of newspapers to protect your work surface. Put the cardboard into the shirt to keep the colors from soaking through from the front to the back. Draw big pictures of flowers on the front of the shirt. Bigger pictures are better than small, detailed ones. Then soak cotton balls in rubbing alcohol and blot the pictures you drew. The colors should run a little and look like tie dye. Let dry to take home but make sure you soak the shirts in cold water before you wash them.

TECHNOLOGY

1. The movements of animals and birds are studied by biologists to learn what is happened to endangered species. Make a list of tools and techniques biologists use to keep track of birds, mammals and fish. Does any park or wildlife refuge near you have programs on migration? If so, try to attend an event.

2. What should you do in your area if you find an wild animal or bird that needs help? Check with a local wildlife refuge or animal shelter. What do they do if a wild animal comes in injured? Based on their information, write a short story about an animal that has been rehabilitated.

3. Read a book about a wildlife rescue. Suggested books include Elephant Rescue: Changing the Future for Endangered Wildlife by Jodi Morgan, Wildlife Rescue by Jennifer Owens Dewey, National Geographic Kid’s Mission: A Wolf Rescue, and Hope for Wildlife: True Stories of Animal Rescue by Ray MacLeod, or find your own book at your level . Discuss the book you chose with others. Would you recommend the book to others or not?

4. Harming an endangered animal is a crime. Contact a U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service law enforcement officer or a game warden from your state’s Fish & Game Department to find out how common these crimes are. See if they will come out and speak to you. If not, interview them over the phone. What can they tell you about how they gather and look at evidence at the scene? After they build a case what happens next?

5. Try photographing wild plants in a local park or nature center. Take pictures of at least five plants. See if you can find an endangered plant. Put them into your booklet or make a display you can show others.

6. Visit a Museum of Natural History that has displays about plants. Can you find any endangered plants or extinct plants? Take notes if you find any. How do you feel about being able to see artificial displays of them even if you can no longer see the real thing? Find out how these artificial plant displays are made and who made them.

Service Projects:

1. Visit a butterfly garden in your area. Find out what kind of native wildflowers found in your area attract butterflies. Find a place to create a butterfly garden in your yard, at your school, or in a local park.

2. Are there meetings in your area to discuss how to develop or maintain local parks? Attend a city, county or state planning meeting that involves development or maintenance of a natural area. Listen to the issues and think about solutions you can suggest.

3. Visit local parks and support them. Look for programs held at your city, county or state parks that involve animals, or look for a wildlife refuge or sanctuary where you can learn about animals and plants and attend a program at one or more of them.

4. Volunteer your time on public lands. Public lands include county and state parks, national wildlife refuges, wildlife management areas, national fish hatcheries, and national grasslands. Ask someone who works at a city, county or state park what you can do to help before trying to come up with ideas on your own.

Career Exploration:

1. Many people have worked to create and maintain habitats for animals and plants and fought for conservation laws. Research one of the following people and write a bibliography highlighting their contributions to wildlife conservation and national wildlife. Some suggestions are: President Theodore Roosevelt, John J. Audubon, Ernest Hemmingway, Paul Kroegel, J. Clark Salyer, Rachel Carson, President Jimmy Carter and Aldo Leopold.

2. Read a book about careers with animals. Some suggestions include Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Worker (Careers with Animals) by Dean Miller, Careers with Animals by Willow Ann Sirch, Working with Wildlife: A Guide to Careers in the Animal World by Thane Maynard, So You Want to Work With Animals by J. M. Bedell, Zoology for Kids by Josh Hesterman, or another book you find yourself. Discuss the book with others. Did you learn anything new? Would you recommend it to others?

3. Many famous conservationists are women. Women can do lots of jobs at parks and wildlife refuges. Contact a city, county, or national park or wildlife refuge. Ask how many women work there and what they do. See if one will come and visit your troop to talk to you about their job. If not, interview one over the phone about how she became interested in wildlife and what she had to do to succeed in her career and report your findings.

4. Zoo staff care for endangered animals and try to help people learn about conservation. Visit a zoo and try to locate at least five endangered animals. See if a staff member will talk to you about what zoos are doing to help animals that are endangered.

5. Most states and some universities have a master gardener’s program. A master gardener is someone who has been trained to give lectures, create gardens, and conduct research about plants. Try to get a master gardener to visit you and talk about endangered plants, or see if you can visit one at a local site where they volunteer. For more information check out the webpage for the American Horticultural Society here:

http://ahsgardening.org/gardening-resources/master...