What’s better than just one Earth Ranger? A pack of Earth Ranger super siblings! We’re so excited to introduce you to Aydin (4 years old), Aariz (8 years old), Shazana (6 years old), and Sameeh (10 years old)! This family of animal-saving heroes work together every day to make a difference for our planet!
These super siblings were inspired by
their dad. He is an EcoChampion at his work! That means he works with his co-workers
to reduce waste, conserve energy, and clean up the environment. He signed them
up to be Earth Rangers, and now they’re an unstoppable team!
Their favourite activity is learning how to recycle and reduce waste the right way. It’s a big task that isn’t always easy, you just have to be brave enough to try! They LOVE the arctic fox and have each adopted a polar bear!
The super siblings told us:
“Our favourite part about being an Earth
Ranger is that we get to protect the planet. Our favourite part about nature is
trees and how they give us oxygen to breathe!”
Their next planet-protecting adventure is to plant some trees and organize a cleanup of their neighborhood park where the local kids play. After that, they plan to talk to their schoolmates about saving energy!
What a team! High five, super siblings! We’re so impressed by your dedication to animals and saving the planet. Together, everything is possible!
Quick! Name a pollinator! Did you say bee? Would it surprise you if we told you that bees aren’t the only pollinators? We’ve put together a list of our favourite pollinators, along with the flowers they are attracted to and the way they pick up pollen.
Bees
Bees are the most important pollinator. Honeybees, for example, are responsible for pollinating over 110 crops that we eat and use every day, like tasty apples and delicious strawberries.
Favourite Flowers: Brightly coloured yellow and blue flowers that have places for bees to land. Bees cannot see red. How they pick up pollen: Bees have tiny hairs on their bodies that pick up pollen when the bees go to drink nectar from a flower.
Hummingbirds
Being a hummingbird is hard work. They need to drink a lot of nectar to get enough energy to keep those tiny wings flapping.
Favourite Flowers: Red, orange, or white tube-shaped flowers that are strong enough to support a hummingbird’s weight. How they pick up pollen: They reach their long beaks into flowers in order to get the nectar and when they are finished drinking, their faces and beaks are dusted with pollen.
Butterflies
Butterflies pollinate the same way bees do but they can’t pick up as much pollen because their bodies are tall and slender.
Favourite Flowers: Brightly coloured flowers that are flat and have a place for butterflies to land How they pick up pollen: When they go in for a drink of nectar, pollen gets stuck on their body.
Flies
A species of fly called a midge is one of the pollinators of the cocoa tree. Yup! These flies help give us yummy chocolate!
Photo Credit: Entomart
Favourite Flowers: Flowers that smell like rotting meat, carrion, dung, blood, or fungus How they pick up pollen: Although they don’t have the hairs that make pollination so easy for bees, flies still pick up some pollen on their body when they land to drink nectar
Black-and-white ruffed lemurs
The black-and-white ruffed lemur is the largest pollinator in the world!
Favourite Flowers: Anything fruity! These lemurs eat up to 130 different fruit species How they pick up pollen: they are the primary pollinator of the traveller’s tree and it isn’t easy getting to its flowers. These lemurs have to open up the flower and reach in with their long snout and tongue. While they are eating, the pollen they brush up against gets stuck on their fur.
Honey possum
A honey possum is from Australia and is about the size of a mouse. Even though they have honey in their name, they don’t actually eat it! They live off nectar. Favourite Flowers: Banksia and eucalyptus flowers. How they pick up pollen: Their nose gets dusted with pollen when they drink the nectar.
Beetles
There are more types of pollinating beetles than any other pollinator species. When these insects pick out a flower, they aren’t just after the nectar; they will eat petals and other parts as well.
Favourite Flowers: White or green bowl-shaped flowers. How they pick up pollen: they pick up pollen on their bodies as they munch on flower parts
Blue-tailed day gecko
This small lizard is found on the island of Mauritius (located off the coast of Africa). It is also a key helper in spreading around plant seeds.
Photo Credit: Josh Noseworthy
Favourite Flowers: Plants from Mauritius, like Roussea simplex, an endangered plant species. How they pick up pollen: When they go to eat nectar inside a flower, pollen gets stuck to the scales on their forehead.
Moths
Moths pollinate flowers the same way butterflies do but unlike butterflies, they continue pollinating after the sun goes down.
Favourite Flowers: Strong-smelling flowers that are white or dull in colour and have places for moths to land. How they pick up pollen: They pick up pollen on their wings and legs when go to drink the plant’s nectar.
Bats
Bats are important pollinators in tropical places and deserts. They are responsible for pollinating over 300 fruits, including mangoes, bananas, and guavas.
Favourite Flowers: Strong-smelling white and dull flowers that open at night How they pick up pollen: They pick up pollen on their face as they drink nectar from a plant.
Which of these pollinators is your favourite? Tell us in the comments below.
When you put out your recycling at the curb, the last thing on your mind is probably “what will the raccoons think?” but our recycling habits can actually impact the local wildlife. Here’s how!
Picture this: you’re a hungry raccoon, out in the early evening hours and looking for something tasty to eat. What’s this?! Someone left some delicious peanut butter in a jar in their recycling bin? Yum! You stick your nose in and – uh oh. Now it’s stuck! You just wanted a snack, but now you’re in serious trouble.
This type of thing happens to animals all the time. It’s our job to stop it. Be a raccoon buddy by making sure you Respect Animals While Recycling! Here are a few tips to try at home:
Before they hit the recycling bin, be sure to wash out all containers REALLY well. You don’t want to see any kind of food inside. If a container doesn’t smell like food, it won’t attract wildlife.
If something has sharp edges (like a tin can), place it at the bottom of your recycling bin, farther away from any animals that might sniff around. You can also ask your parents to look for a can opener that make smooth edges instead of jagged ones.
Get a compost container with a tightly-fitting lid to prevent raccoons from getting inside (they’re very clever).
Get more tips by accepting the RAWR Mission! Look for it in the Mission section in the App.
We’ve gotten tons of great guesses on Part 1 of the 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 Tree Hugger.
Look for the Tree Hugger Challenge in the Challenges section!
Trees are TREErific allies! They give us shade, food, air to breathe, all while absorbing greenhouse gases and helping us fight climate change. Don’t you think they deserve a big thank you?
Join the Tree Hugger Challenge and become a friend to trees!
Summertime is just around the corner and the weather will finally warm enough for a trip to the beach. How about visiting world’s largest island-in-a-lake, Manitoulin Island, located on beautiful Lake Huron? What could be better: playing in the sand, building castles, taking a dip in the lake…but what if you happen to spot some garbage on the shoreline? Suddenly that summertime vacation doesn’t seem like so much fun. Especially for the animals that have to live on the island year-round.
Manitoulin Island is home to over 108 lakes. That’s right:
the island is SO big that it has 108 lakes on it…some of which have islands of
their own! It’s also home to many unique and special species of animals and
plants. No matter where the location, all shoreline fauna and flora rely on a
pollution-free habitat to call home.
Earth Rangers to the Rescue!
And that’s where you come in: Earth Rangers to the rescue!
With your vast knowledge of nature, animals and the environment, you have the
power to help make any messy
shoreline into the perfect place for everyone to enjoy. (And that includes the shorelines of rivers,
streams, ponds, creeks and wetlands – even if you can’t vacation there, the
creatures that make those shorelines their home will definitely appreciate a
helping hand in cleaning up.)
Why do we need to keep them clean?
First, let’s talk about why keeping the shoreline clean is
so important. When garbage pollutes the shoreline, it’s more than just an
eyesore. Animals can get tangled up in it. Sometimes, certain plastic garbage
might look like food and cause animals to choke. Garbage can also get washed
into a body of water and cause problems there. (Imagine seeing a bag floating
on the pond – does it look a bit like a fish, if you’re a hungry bird?)
Become a Shoreline Saver!
So what can you do to help clean up? Accept Shoreline Saver in the Mission section in the Earth Rangers App! You’ll get ton of helpful information to get you well on your way to becoming a shoreline superstar!
If you could save any shoreline in the world, what would you choose?
Sometimes two eyes just aren’t enough, thankfully the Tuatara, a lizard that lives on a few remote islands near New Zealand, has an extra one. The Tuatara has a third eye on the top of its head, we aren’t certain what it is used for but we do know that it gets covered by scales as the lizard grows up.
Whether you live in the country or in the city, there are interesting plants and animals all around you. Just head out to your local park, pond, or even just look closely at the ground beneath your feet. You’ll be amazed at all the life you see! And until June 12, snapping a picture of this biodiversity could make you a winner!
For today’s Eco-Activity, we want you to get outside, snap some pictures and enter the Backyard Biologist Contest!
We’ll pick one winner from each of the following categories:
Here’s what you need to do to enter:
Share your pictures with us in the Backyard Biologist Mission in the App, or at www.earthrangers.com/backyardbiocontest. You can upload one picture per category. Make sure you include a description of the photo and an explanation about how you identified it (as any true biologist would do, of course).
The Prize:
The winners get an awesome camera from Canon and have their photographs displayed in the Schad Gallery of Biodiversity at the Royal Ontario Museum! Pretty sweet, right?
The Earth Rangers App is where kids go to save animals! It’s free to join and you’ll have access to real-world Missions like this one. Plus, you can adopt an animal to support conservation projects, and learn all about animals in the Wild Wire Blog.
Find activities like this, and so much more in the App!
New Challenge alert! Become a Tree Hugger and be a friend to trees! Look for it in the Challenges section in the Earth Rangers App and on Project2050.ca.
When you think of the things trees do for us, what comes to mind? Do you think about…
Shade on a hot day
Delicious fruit like apples and oranges
All the animals that call trees home
Taking a great big breath of fresh air, or
The paper and wood we use every day?
It’s clear trees do a lot for us, but one thing they do is more important than all the rest. Every day, trees help us by sucking up harmful greenhouse gases from the air. This makes them Treerific allies in the fight against climate change.
Join the Tree Hugger Challenge and we’ll show you how you can be a friend to trees while fighting climate change! You’ll do things like…
Eat less meat
Send e-cards
Give paper a second life
Borrow from the library
We’ve set our goal to the highest level yet! When we log 100,000 habits as a group, we’ll help plant a whole bunch of trees! Will you help us?
Favourite Flowers: Banksia and eucalyptus flowers.
