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Eco-Activity: Make a pumpkin bird feeder!

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Now that Halloween is over, what are you doing with your jack-o’-lantern? Don’t just throw it away; turn it into something new! For today’s Eco-Activity, we’ll show you how to make a pumpkin bird feeder for our flying friends!

Instructions:

1. Cut your jack-o’-lantern in half.

2. To make the first perch, push one of the sticks through the wall of the pumpkin, leaving enough room for a bird to stand on.

3. To make the second perch, repeat step 2 but on the opposite side of the pumpkin.

4. Put your two ropes together and tie a knot in the middle.

5. Place your pumpkin over top of the knot and spread the rope out evenly. When you pick up the rope, it should cradle the pumpkin.

6. Put the tack through the knot in the rope and into the pumpkin to make sure it stays in place.

7. Decide where you want to hang your bird feeder. It could be off a tree branch or even a hook outside. Hang your birdfeeder up by tying the ends of the rope together.

8. Fill the pumpkin with bird seed and see who stops by!

Eco-Activity: Become a Junior Polar bear Researcher!

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Have you ever wanted to see what it’s like to be a polar bear researcher? For today’s Eco-Activity, that’s exactly what you’ll be doing. Buckle up, you’ve got some polar bears to study! 

First we need to travel to Hudson’s Bay. Don’t worry, it’s just through your computer. There you’ll find seven polar bears roaming around, and it’s your job to learn as much as you can about them. Each bear is wearing a tracking collar so you can see where they’ve gone, but enough chit chat! You’ve got some important information to collect!

Instructions

1. Click here to meet the polar bears.

2. Check out each of the bears to find out how far they travelled, how old they are and other important information

3. Record your data by answering the questions below!

4. Double check your answers and when you’re done, don’t hesitate to show off your new knowledge to your friends.

Being a real polar bear researcher is a lot of work. Just ask our partner, Larissa Thelin from the University of Alberta! She’s working hard to learn how climate change will affect polar bears in the Davis Strait—that’s the area between Baffin Island and Greenland! You can help support her work with an Earth Rangers Wildlife Adoption. Check them out here!

Happy Halloween!

Have a safe and happy Halloween, from everyone at Earth Rangers!

Happy Halloween

Podcast: Adelia Goodwin’s Secret Journal – The Realm of the Snow Leopard

After a long hike through the Himalayan Mountains Emma still has a ways to go before she reaches her destination. Dealing with high altitude and difficult terrain, Emma decides to call junior wildlife reporter Aliza who lives in snow leopard conservation area in Pakistan. After talking to Aliza, Emma begins reading the secret journal of missing conservationist Adelia Goodwin and discovers that she was looking for an elusive creature high up in the Himalayas. Will Emma be able to follow her footsteps and find what she was looking for?

Click the play button on the player below to listen to today’s episode!


Take a look at this page from Adelia’s Secret Journal!

It looks like Adelia took off into Sagarmatha National Park in order to look for the elusive snow leopard. Was she able to meet up with her contact Dr. Juliette Giri and find evidence of these hard-to-find cats? 

Check out these photos from junior wildlife reporter Aliza! 

(Left) Aliza Rae and her sister Rouya Nour ​with their dogs Layla and Shasha in the Chitral Gol National Park (Right) Aliza Rae standing behind our house watching the markhor who come by almost daily to drink from the water channel. They are experts at climbing trees to eat the leaves.
Markhor, also known as screw-horned goat, live in the Hindu Kush mountain range in Pakistan.

Stay tuned for more episodes to find out what happens next!


Emma may just have embarked on an epic quest, but our junior wildlife reporters contest is still going on!

If you’ve ever wanted to be a podcast correspondent, here is your chance. You can create your very own animal report! It could be about your all-time favourite animal, with some cool wacky facts that nobody knows about them! Or it can be about some rare animals that most people would never have even heard about. Or cool conservation projects that happen in your neighbourhood. You can even make your own quizzes, riddles and games. It is 100% your segment, but we will help you out a bit by adding cool sound effects! Ready? Click on the ‘Leave us a message’ button below!

Who did Emma bump into in the café?

Will Emma make it to Sagarmatha National Park?

What will happen next on Emma’s adventure?

Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Music in the Sherpa Barista Bakery by Khijee2 Sunuwar music track

Subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss an episode!

Caption This! What’s This Bat Thinking?

We need your help! This bat is trying to tell us something but we can’t figure it out! Do you know what it’s thinking?

See if you can come up with the best caption!

Post your ideas in the comments!


Looking for more fun stuff? Check out our other captions, try and figure out a pixel puzzler, take a quiz or watch a cool video!

Top Ten Big Scary Looking Animals

It’s almost Halloween, and to get you into the season of fright here are some big and terrifying animals! Don’t worry, most aren’t dangerous to us, but it’s fun to take a peek at some big and creepy looking species.

1) Japanese Spider Crab

The largest known arthropod. Adults can reach 4 meters long.

Japanese Spider Crab

2) Giant Marine Isopod

These big carnivorous crustaceans are 19 to 36 cm long.

Bathynomus giganteus

3) Black Flying Fox:

Australia’s largest bat. Their wingspan is over 1 meter.

Black Flying Fox (Pteropus alecto)
Photo credit James Niland

4) Goliath Tigerfish

They have 32 sharp teeth and can weigh over 49 kg.

goliath tigerfish
Photo credit Gafa Kassim

5) Emperor Scorpion

The largest scorpion. They can weigh up to 30 g.

Emperor Scorpion
Photo credit Josh More

6) Goliath Bird-eating Spider

The world’s heaviest spider with legs up to 28 cm long.

goliath bird eater spider Theraphosa blondi

7) Asian Giant Hornet

The largest hornet, reaching over 5 cm in length.

Wasp

8) Tarantula Hawk

This large wasp hunts tarantulas, which they use to lay their eggs on.

tarantual hawk
Photo credit Ian Morton

9) Lion’s Mane Jellyfish

The largest known jellyfish, its tentacles can reach up to 60 m long.

Lion’s Mane Jellyfish
Photo credit Arnstein Ronning

10) African Giant Millipede

The largest species of millipede, growing 8 to 11 inches in length.

African Giant Millipede
Photo credit charles tilford

Which of these animals did you find the scariest? Let us know in the comments!

Can we break the world record?

This summer, we asked you to make paper snowflakes and send them to us at the Earth Rangers Centre. We got so many from you that they filled boxes and boxes. Your messages for the planet showed us just how much you care! We’ll be using them to (hopefully) break the GUINNESS WORLD RECORD® title for the longest chain of paper snowflakes!

That’s right, we’re trying to build the longest chain of paper snowflakes EVER! Next week, we’ll be heading to the Toronto Zoo to put them all together. If it measures more than 214 metres long (that’s four times the height of Niagara Falls) the record is ours!

Isn’t it amazing what we can do when we work together? We could literally break a world record! Come back next week to find out if we did it!

Speaking of teamwork, we’ve got something new and super special coming to Earth Rangers. Want to know what it is? You’re going to have to wait until next week!

What could it be? Make your guesses in the comments!

Eco-Activity: Host a post-Halloween clean up!

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Halloween is amazing; you get to go trick-or-treating, eat candy, and dress up in super cool costumes, who wouldn’t love it? If you trick-or-treat with a pillowcase, did you know that it can hold around 1600 pieces of candy? That’s a LOT of candy. While all that candy sounds delicious to us, after Halloween, some of these candy wrappers and other Halloween decorations can find their way into our streets, parks, and wild areas. For today’s eco-activity, we’re going to get prepared to properly throw away all the escaped halloween wrappers by organizing a post-Halloween clean up!

Instructions: 

1. Decide on when and where you’re going to be having 

your post-Halloween clean up. 

2. Fill out the Halloween Clean Up Email 

3. Email it to your friends, family, and/or neighbourhood with the supervision of your parent(s) or guardian(s). 

4. Don’t have someone’s email? Let them know when you see them! 

Halloween Clean Up Email Template:


Hello, 


Did you know that I’m an Earth Ranger! 


Lots of litter from things like candy wrappers end up on our streets and in our parks after Halloween, which is why I’m inviting you to join my post-Halloween clean up! 


We’re meeting at ___(location)____ at ____(time/date)____ to clean up our neighbourhood!


Here’s what you need to bring:
Reusable gloves
A compostable trash bag
Thank you for helping me keep our neighbourhood clean and keep trash out of the homes of animals!


Looking forward to seeing you there, 


Earth Ranger ____(your name)____

Top Ten Animals in Disguise

It’s October, which means many of us are looking for ideas for a Halloween costume. To help inspire you to come up with a great costume, we’ve collected a list of the top ten animals with the best disguises. These species may look like one thing, but they are actually something else! Comment below to share some of your favourite Halloween costumes.

1) This canine looks like a raccoon

raccoon_dog
Raccoon dog

2) This bird looks like a tree

Great_potoo_tree
Great Potoo

3) This fish looks like stones

stone_flounder
Stone Flounder

4) This fly looks like a wasp

hover Fly credit Alvesgaspar
Hover fly. Photo credit: Alvesgaspar

5) This hedgehog looks like tumbleweed

Pygmy hedgehogs.
Pygmy hedgehogs

6) This feline-relative looks like a canine

Hyena
Hyena

7) This lizard looks like a snake

Slow worm
Slow worm

8) This wolf looks like a fox

Maned Wolf
Maned Wolf

9) This relative of the rabbit looks like a hamster

Pika
Pika

10) This gecko looks like moss

leaf tailed gecko
Leaf-tailed gecko. Photo credit: Frank Vassen

 Which animal disguise did you think was the coolest? Let us know in the comments!

Eco All-Star #6: Dr. Jane Goodall

Have you started your Eco All-Star Card Collection? Learn all about it here!

Name: Jane Goodall

Born: April 3, 1934 London, England

Environmental Role: Primatologist, Anthropologist, Environmental Activist

“Quit monkeying around” is probably not something you’d hear from Jane Goodall. That’s because she loves primates, especially chimpanzees! In fact, there’s an entire institute named after her whose main purpose is to support chimpanzee research in Africa. She has spent 60 years studying them and is a real chimpanzee expert. If you’re a primate fan, Jane Goodall is the Eco All-Star for you! 


Jane Goodall Eco All-Star Fast Facts:

1. When Jane was a child, her grandfather gave her a stuffed chimpanzee named Jubilee. Jubilee meant so much to her that she still has it today!

2. At 26 years old, Jane started studying chimpanzees in Tanzania. Her research there would last 60 years! She discovered two groundbreaking things: chimpanzees can use tools, and they eat meat. 

3. Instead of giving a number to each of the chimpanzee she was studying, Jane used fun names like David Greybeard, Goliath, Mike, Humphrey, Gigi, Flo, and Frodo!

4. Jane has given speeches all over the world, and not just about chimpanzees! She’s also spoken about climate change, wildlife conservation and much more

5. Jane has been given lots of awards for her work. She was even named one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world in 2019!

6. In 2020 Jane promised to plant 5 million trees with the Jane Goodall Institute. Now that’s a lot of trees! 


Jane Goodall’s work changed the world! She gave us a look into the lives of chimpanzees that no one had ever given us before. She has inspired many of us to love primates and to protect them and their habitats. Thank you Jane Goodall for all the incredible research! 

Collect this card by leaving a comment telling us what you like most about Jane Goodall