Staying warm in cold weather

Earth Rangers

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December 9, 2022

Winter is coming in fast. It’s pretty chilly outside these days and many of us have turned on the heat. But did you know that heating uses LOTS of electricity? Before you crank the thermostat, try thinking of other ways to keep warm. Perhaps these ideas inspired by nature will help!

Put on Warmer Clothing

Deer grow thicker coats to stay warm in the winter.

Seal Up Drafts around Your Home

Snails go into their shell and close up the hole with a kind of skin made of calcium and slime. It keeps moisture from escaping and cold, dry air from getting in.

Nap and Snack

Squirrels nap and snack their way through winter. They spend the coldest part of the winter sleeping but will come out on warmer days to retrieve food they stored in the fall.

Hangout with Friends

Garter snakes hibernate in groups to keep warm. In certain areas, there can be hundreds and sometimes thousands of snakes grouped together.

Hide Somewhere Warm and Don’t Come Out Until It’s Spring

Some turtles find a spot to hide and go dormant for the winter.

What helps you keep warm on cold days? Let us know in the comments!

Did you know that turning down your thermostat in the winter can actually help slow down climate change? Learn more in the Re-set the ‘stat in the Missions section in the Earth Rangers App.

Find a Tree Game

Creative Corner

Earth Rangers

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December 8, 2022

262

Find a Tree Game

Time:15 min

Difficulty:Medium

It’s pretty easy to tell two trees apart, but can you do it with your eyes closed? Play a round of this TREEriffic game and find out!

About the game:

Number of players: an even number (it will be played in pairs)
Location: somewhere with lots of trees
Materials: a timer and a blindfold (optional)

Here’s how you play:

Step 1: Pair up. Choose one person to be the finder and the other person to be the guide.

Step 2: The finder should close their eyes or cover them with a blindfold. They will keep them covered for the next 3 steps.

Step 3: The guide spins the finder around and then leads them to a tree. TIP: To make it more challenging, the guide can add fake turns along the way.

Step 4: The finder has 30 seconds to feel around the tree. They should try to find things that make the tree stand out so they know what to look for later.

Step 5: The guide leads the finder back to the starting point and spins them around.

Step 6: Now the finder has to find that same tree but with their eyes open. Use a timer to record how long it takes. TIP: If the finder gets stuck, the guide can give them hints to help.

Step 7: Once the finder has found the tree, they should do a happy dance. Then it’s time to switch roles and do it again. The player who finds the tree the fastest is the winner.

Crabeater Seal

Earth Rangers

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December 7, 2022

46

Sometimes animals have names that just don’t make any sense! A Purple finch isn’t purple, not all ladybugs are female, a sea cucumber isn’t an underwater vegetable, and don’t forget silverfish, which definitely aren’t fish! Well, the Crabeater seal isn’t any different.

There are lots of things a Crabeater seal could be named after; their bodies are built for speed and they are one of the fastest seals when moving on land. With around 15 million of them, Crabeater seals have the largest population of all pinniped (aquatic meat-eating mammals with fins for feet like seals, walruses, and sea lions). Their teeth are even specially designed for eating krill (not crab), which makes up about 95% of their diet. Instead of all of these cool traits, the Crabeater seal is named after crabs, a crustacean that isn’t even found in the Antarctic, where these seals live. Oh well! You know what they say…a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet.

Know any other animals in need of a new name? Post a comment below and tell us what you think they should be called!

Make Your Holiday Gift-Giving Greener!

Earth Rangers

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December 2, 2022

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If you’ve got some serious gift-giving to do, we’ve got you covered. Here are our top ways to make sure the presents you give are eco-friendly.

Watch Out for Greenwashing

Greenwashing is a way that companies try to trick you into thinking something is eco-friendly when it’s not. They can use words like “eco”, “green”, “sustainable” or “natural” but their products may be none of those things. Instead, make sure to look for:

Ecolabels—you can find a list in the Certified Green Mission!
Packaging made from recycled materials, and
Info on the company’s website that proves they are eco-friendly.

Choose Gifts That Don’t Have a Lot of Packaging

Try to find gifts that use paper or cardboard packaging instead of plastic.

Make Your Own Wrapping Paper

Get some plain shelf paper and draw a pretty scene. You can also use some newspaper! We recommend using the comics section to make your gift wrap fun (and funny).

Go for Quality, Not Quantity

It’s easy to get wrapped up in the season and end up buying more than you need. But the secret to being green is to buy less, not more. All the things you buy are made using the Earth’s resources so make sure you don’t waste them. Don’t buy lots of gifts when one really thoughtful one will do.

DIY Something Amazing

Are you an expert artist? Maybe your skills are in the kitchen. It’s time to use those abilities and create gifts from the heart. After all, the best gifts are handmade!

Support Eco-Friendly Companies

You’ll have to do a little research, but it will be totally worth it. Go through your list of gifts to buy and see if you can find companies that make them in sustainable, ecologically-conscious ways. That way you can feel better about the gifts you’re giving.

Want to learn more about ecolabels and get a handy guide? Check out Certified Green in the Missions section in the Earth Rangers App.

In partnership with:

Can You Catch a Yawn from a Chimpanzee?

Earth Rangers

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November 30, 2022

105

Make sure you don’t scroll down to the photos below unless you have a pillow and a blanket ready for a nap. These images will make you sleeepppy.

A few years ago, a bunch of researchers sat next to 33 chimpanzees and started yawning a lot. Guess what the chimpanzees did? They yawned back! They helped prove what we’ve all known for a long time: yawning is contagious!

The researchers made a lot of chimps look pretty sleepy, but no word yet if there was an increase in nap time for both researchers and chimpanzees.

If we can make chimpanzees yawn, can animals make us yawn? Scroll through these pictures and let us know if feel a yawn coming on!

fox yawning — Fox. Photo credit: Tambako Jaguar

japanese snow monkey yawning — Japanese snow monkey

wolf yawning — Wolf. Photo credit: Flick user breenzanemom

yawning red panda — Red panda. Photo credit: Flickr User, hizonic

Quiz: Remarkable Renewable Energy

Earth Rangers

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November 29, 2022

60

Time for a pop quiz! Where would you find the biggest solar farm in the world? Can wind turbines be built on water? Do hydrogen-powered cars exist? Find out the answer to all of these questions and more in the Remarkable Renewable Energy Quiz!

You can learn more about renewable energy by accepting the We’ve Got the Power Mission. Look for it in the Mission section in the Earth Rangers App!

Ask an Expert: Peatlands Pro

Earth Rangers

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November 25, 2022

111

What do polar bears, wood frogs, and caribou have in common? They all rely on the peatlands around Hudson Bay at some point during the year! But what in the world are peatlands? Well, we called in a Peatlands Pro to help answer that question.

Have you ever wondered what makes peatlands so special? Curious about the other types of animals that live there? Want to know how these ecosystems help us fight climate change?

Now is your chance to ask an expert!

Early next month, we’re chatting with Peatlands Pro, Connie O’Conner, PhD. She is the Director of the Ontario Northern Boreal Program at WCS Canada. You’re helping support their work with every polar bear, wood frog, and caribou adoption.

What are we going to ask Connie about? We don’t know! You tell us!

Ask your questions in the comments. We’ll select some and share them with Connie when we go live on Facebook on December 6 at 11:00 am ET!

Not able to join us on December 6? Don’t worry! We’ll post her answers on the blog after the interview.

Want to support WCS Canada’s work? Look for the polar bear, wood frog, or caribou in the Adoptions section of the Earth Rangers App.

Tap here to learn more about peatlands and WCS Canada’s work!

Jumping Frogs

Creative Corner

Earth Rangers

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November 24, 2022

179

Jumping Frogs

Time:15 min

Difficulty:Hard

Boing! Boing! Boing! Frogs are famous for their giant jumps and huge hops! Are you ready to leap along with some paper frogs that actually jump? Grab your paper and start folding!

Here’s what you need:

A square piece of paper
- Tip: Upcycle an old piece of paper or newspaper instead of using something new
A marker to make the eyes
A flat surface
An adult to help

Here’s how you make it:

Step 1: Fold your paper in half to create a rectangle.

Step 2: One at a time, fold the top corners of your rectangle down and unfold them.

Step 3: Turn the paper over. Squeeze the sides of the paper together, so your corner folds meet in the middle, and press down. Your paper will now have a triangular top.

Step 4: Fold the square’s bottom edge of the paper up to meet the base of the triangle. This will give you a rectangle on the bottom half.

Step 5: Fold the edges of the square and the bottom layer of the triangle inwards so they meet in the centre. This will give you a smaller square and a triangle, creating a house shape. Leave the triangle on top as is.

Step 6: Fold the square’s bottom edge of the paper up to meet the base of the triangle. Fold the top outside corners down to the centre, then unfold until it looks like Step 5. Pull the two corners in the middle at the base outwards so that they are in line with the base of the triangle, creating a boat-shaped flap.

Step 7: Fold down the corners of the boat-shaped flap so they meet in the middle.

Step 8: To make the frog legs, fold all four flaps outwards.

Step 9: Fold the frog in half so that the bottom legs touch the top legs. Then fold the top piece in half.

Step 10: Flip your frog over! Use a marker to draw on its eyes!

Your frog is done! Keep making as many as you want. We made a frog family!

How to make it jump: Push down on the back end of your frog and let your finger slide off to watch your frog leap! It might take some practice so keep trying if it doesn’t work right away.

Earth Rangers Podcasts Win Big!

News

Earth Rangers

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November 23, 2022

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“We want to thank the academy for this award!” The Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts that is! Earth Rangers is thrilled to be the recipient of THREE 2022 Davey Gold Awards for Best in Show in the podcast category. The Big Melt won gold in the sustainability category. The Earth Rangers podcast featuring Earth Ranger Emma won the top award in the scripted and educational categories.

The Davey award’s namesake is from the story David and Goliath. David defeated the giant with a big idea and a little rock – something that small companies and organizations do every year. As the award’s founders are well known for saying, “Creative Davids derive their strength from big ideas, rather than stratospheric budgets”.

The judges are anything but small! Members from the Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts include executives from Disney, GE, Microsoft, MTV, Sesame Workshops and more.

The Earth Ranger podcast stars the intrepid Earth Ranger Emma, who travels the world to learn about animals and solve some of nature’s biggest mysteries.

Sounds like something your kids would enjoy? We recommend either starting at the very beginning or jumping in with our current story arc surrounding the mystery of “Adelia Goodwin’s secret journal”.

The Big Melt is for a teen audience featuring Sarah who is on a mission. She tackles climate change head on by getting real about what’s happening to our planet.

Learning about the environment and eco-action by listening to podcasts is a powerful way to engage children. Kids who participate in Earth Rangers are significantly more optimistic about the future of the planet and confident in their ability to make a difference. This has never been more important, as we increasingly see the impacts of climate change in real time.

We are honoured to be recognized by the Davey Awards and offer congratulations to all the other candidates and winners.

Penguins are Built to Swim

Earth Rangers

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November 23, 2022

32

A penguin’s feathers are stiff and packed tightly together. While this doesn’t allow for soaring in the air, it makes them excellent swimmers. This type of feather keeps the water out and makes a great streamlined surface, perfect for water sports!