Eco-Explorer

"Eco" is short for ecology. Ecology is the study of how plants and animals live together in the environment. Have fun trying these activates as you come an eco-explorer.

#1. Exploring Nature
Try one or both of the following activities to explore nature:
Activity 1:
Try to find both living and nonliving things in the natural environment. you'll need a pencil. When you find an item, check it off. Do your best not to harm, move, or take away any of these things. Animals and plants may depend on them.
 

Activity 2:
Fold three cardstock papers in half to make three "place cards." Write one of the following on each place card: "Nonliving Things", "Living Things", "Signs of Living Things". Print and cut out each of the following items. Fold each in half and put them all into a container. Let the girls take turns drawing out one slip of paper. She must decide which place card it most appropriately fits.

#2. What's a Habitat?
Unscramble the words below. The clue underneath the blanks will help you. Then you will discover the four most important things that an animal (or plant) needs in order to survive.

What's a Habitat?
Read the clue and look at the picture to unscramble each of the following words.

___ ___ ___ ___ o f o d	Clue: When you are hungry and your stomach is growling, you need to find some of this.
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ t a w r e	Clue: When you are thirsty, this is the best liquid for you to drink, and it's NOT soda!
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ p a s e c	Clue: This word means a "place to live" and it rhymes with the word, place.
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ t e l h s e r	Clue: If you were outside and there was a bad storm, you would look for a place to protect you. Another word for it is __________.

You have discovered the four most important things
that an animal or plant needs in order to survive!

#3. Make a Habitat
Pick one of the animals from the following list (or any other animal you like) and make a pretend habitat for it to live in. Don't forget to include food, water, and shelter for your animal!

• Squirrel

• Lion

• Shark

• Bear

• Hawk

• Monkey

• Horse

Make a habitat in a shoebox with buttons, clay, colored construction paper, cotton balls, felt, tissue paper, pipe cleaners, and other materials that would work.

#4.Food Chain
Plants make food for all living things and use the sun's energy to grow. When animals eat plants, they get energy. You also get energy from eating food. Your food may be plants or animals.
A food chain shows how energy is passed from one living thing to another. All food chains start with plants. You can make your own food chain. Pick one of the activities (or both) below and make your own food chain.

Activity 1:
Save and print out this Food Chains Word document handout. It has two sets of food chains. Let each girl select one food chain, cut out the "chains" and glue them together in order.
Activity 2:
Cut out pictures of plants and animals (or draw pictures of them) onto narrow strips of paper. Put one picture one each strip of paper (cut a 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper into four strips). Loop the ends of the first picture/strip together and tape it to close the circle. You now have the first link on your food chain. Take your second link and loop it through the first and tape the circle together. Continue looping and taping your links together to make a chain.
Here are some chain ideas to help you get started:
Grass - prairie dog - rattlesnake - eagle
acorn - gray squirrel - red-tailed hawk
flower - beetle - skunk - great horned owl
mayfly - sunfish - wood stork - alligator

#5. Speak Up For The Animals
Some animals that live on the earth are endangered. If we do not protect them, they will be gone forever.
Put together a show that will tell people more about endangered animals/species.
1. Pick an animal from the list below or find another endangered animal:

• Peregrine Falcon

• Black Rhinoceros

• Florida Panther

• Mountain Gorilla

• Galapagos Tortoise

• Karner Blue Butterfly

• Black-Footed Ferret

• Giant Panda

• Orangutan

2. Look up why your animal is endangered. You can go to the library or ask an adult to help you search the internet for information.
3. Write about why you feel it is important to save your animal, where your animal lives, and why it is endangered. What can people do to help?
4. You may want to choose some music for the opening and closing of your talk show. You can include animal sounds.
5. After you've put on your show once, you might like to invite your parents or another troop to come and see it!

#6. Helping Wildlife
As a Girl Scout, you care about the earth. When you recite the Girl Scout Law, you promise to "use resources wisely". Pick at least one of the activities below to help wild animals. Work with your leader or another adult.

• Put up bird next boxes.

• Make brush piles by piling up lots of dead branches and leaves. Small animals, like snakes, toads, chipmunks, and turtles often hide under them.

• Snip six-pack plastic soda rings with a pair of scissors. Those plastic rings that are used to hold together six-packs of soda. Why? Because the rings can cause harm. Animals can get their necks or beaks caught in them. In many cases the animals can't eat, so they die.

• Plant a butterfly garden. Butterflies are only attracted to certain types of flowers. Also some flowers don't grow well in your unit
  . Check at a plant store to see which ones will be best for this project.

• Put out a bird feeder and keep it filled all winter long.

Other Helpful Links:
The Fossil Hunter
Food Chain
http://www.ecologyfund.com (Help save wildlife & the enviroment by clicking on links daily)
http://www.therainforestsite.com (Help save the rain forests of the world by clicking on the link each day)

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