Vultures have an un-feathered part of their face that can turn bright red. This face flushing is an important way for these birds to communicate things like their status in the group, kinda like a colour-coded website update for vultures!
Are you a cat, owl, squirrel, or caribou?
New Challenge alert! Ready to hand it down, hermit crab style? Do the beluga whale wash? Or snack like a rabbit? Look for “Act Like An Animal” in the Challenges section of the Earth Rangers App!
Animals around the world are impacted by climate change. It’s making it harder for them to survive in the wild. In this Challenge, let’s learn a few climate-friendly habits from our animal friends.
When you join this challenge, you will do things like…
Spot the light like an owl
Snack like a rabbit
Take a cat bath
Do the beluga whale wash
Plant seeds like a squirrel
Hoof it like a caribou
Hand it down hermit crab style
Layer up like a polar bear
There are lots of things we can do to help slow climate change. We’re challenging you to help us meet our goal of 250,000 climate-friendly habits. Come back every day to log your habits, and unlock some awesome rewards along the way! Can you collect them all?
Let us hear your loudest roar and help all sort of animals in the Act Like An Animal Challenge! When we work together, climate change doesn’t stand a chance.
Top Ten Animals that Love the Snow
As the season changes from fall to winter check out this list of top ten animals playing, hiding, hunting and loving the snow. You might be inspired to grab your boots and coat and head outside for some fun of your own!
1) Do you think they can see me?
2) Oh yah…this is nice.
3) Watch out, I’m going in!
4) Just blending in.
5) Snow fight!
6) Snowshoeing anyone?
7) The snow just brings out the romantic in me…sigh…
8) Come on everyone…I know the way.
9) Who’s ready for a snowball fight?
10) Hey, where did everybody go?
Pixel Puzzler #58: The Great Reveal
We got tons of great guesses on Part 1 of this Pixel Puzzler and now it’s time for the answer. Are you ready for the great reveal? Find out if you got it right!
The answer to this Pixel Puzzler is (drum roll please) A Bat! How did you do? Tell us in the comments!
Tap here for more cool stuff like this!
Leftover Makeover
Leftover Makeover
Time:45 min
Difficulty:Easy
It’s really easy to accidentally let food to go waste – like the grated cheese that’s growing fuzz or lettuce that’s turned into goo at the back of the fridge. But with some planning, we can cut back on the amount of food we waste!
- A notebook or some paper
- Something to write with like a pencil, pen, or marker
- Friends or family to join you
Here’s how you make it:
Step 1: Track!
Any good ol’ detective needs their list! Make a list that you will use to track all food that you sometimes throw out instead of eat (one carrot at the back of the fridge, or that bread that gets a little dry).
Decorate your list with paint, pencils, or markers!
Here is an example of a list to get you started! You can also take a screenshot of this example to keep it handy.
Click on the image below to zoom in!
Step 2: Investigate!
It’s time to grab your detective’s hat! Investigate how and why the family wastes the food you’ve listed.
Step 3: Find better options!
Look at your list, and think about what recipes you could create to “save” some of this food.
Reuse parts of food that you usually throw away: You can turn potato skins into chips, or make a soup base from the bones of your roasted chicken!
Omelets are a great breakfast hack for this: just toss in what didn’t get eaten the night before! Or homemade pizza with leftover meats and veggies as toppings for dinner!!
Step 4: Makeover time!
Make a meal out of leftovers! Team up with a grown-up! Hand over your list and ask them to help you save the planet!
Was your family able to cut the amount of waste food you? Share your stories in the comments below! Who knows? You might get a special feature in a Wildwire blog!
Pawsitively Hilarious Jokes #44
What did the teacher say to the cheetah when it made a right guess?
You are spot on!
Pixel Puzzler #58: Part 1
Let’s put your identification skills to the test! Can you figure out what is hidden in this picture? Make your guess in the comments.
Check back next week for the answer!
Tap here for more cool stuff like this!
Take a Stand for Wildlife
Teens took a stand for wildlife in 2024 to help raise awareness and funds for conservation. By using their unique skills, ER Teens raised hundreds of dollars to support habitat protection projects for species such as river otters in Ontario’s Frontenac Arch, jaguars in Costa Rica, swift foxes in Saskatchewan, and polar bears in Northern Canada.
Special thank you to Christina Ingraldi, Director of Development at Earth Rangers, for sharing fundraising tips with participants!
Have a look at their creative fundraising ideas!
Amanda, Yunie & Celine held bake sales at school to help others learn about polar bear protection, and raise money.
“Celine loves to bake, so we thought it would be a great idea to host bake sales, while Yunie enjoys designing, and so she made the information cards, and Amanda enjoys planning so she was able to gather our ideas and organize them. We were all able to use our strengths in this fundraising event!”
Sunita raised over $290 for river otters with the help of her friends and family, and by selling baked goods at school.
“I felt nervous, but also fulfilled and happy because I knew that I was taking tangible action to make a difference in my community. I enjoyed raising awareness for wildlife and seeing the wonderful reactions people had to my initiative”
Luxmie, Nancy & Sanvi spread the word in their community and collected donations for the jaguar campaign.
“We felt excited and eager to work on this project as not only were we able to spend time together but additionally were making a difference by raising awareness.”
Sophie’s animal of interest was the swift fox. She learned about swift foxes in the wild then created pamphlets to help educate others. She also took a stand by having her own roadside stand with cookies, origami foxes, and fox corner bookmarks.
Sisters Natasha and Sienna combined their interests in conservation and clay-making to create adorable replicas of the species they helped raise awareness for. “I felt engaged with the Earth Rangers team at the Zoom meeting because they knew how special it was for me to help save these animals.”
“I care deeply about the protection of animals and their environment, and this project made me greatly appreciative of the swift foxes and their land. I learned a lot of new information I had never known before, and when I found out about the dropping swift fox numbers in the wild, I knew I had to help save them from extinction.”
Shoutouts to ER Teens Clare and Eshal for participating in Take a Stand for Wildlife and supporting river otters and swift foxes!
Summer BioBlitz
ER Teens learned about the importance of community science when it comes to conservation by participating in our 2024 Summer BioBlitz. Teens across Canada documented wildlife species in their local communities and uploaded their observations to an international online database. Participants shared over 430 observations!
Special thank you to Megan Quin, Conservation Biologist with the Nature Conservancy of Canada, for giving participants the keys to species identification.
Here are some findings from our eagle-eyed teens:
