Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Hey, Science Teachers ...

Looking for a lesson that will engage students in endangered species conservation? 



Photo by Steve Hillebrand / USFWS

The gist: 

Students develop advertising campaigns to save endangered species, helping them gain a deeper understanding of how human activities affect the survival of other species on Earth. 

It's geared toward 5th through 8th graders, but it would be easy to modify for other grades. 

Enjoy!

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Toast to Tigers

You may not realize (I didn't) that three subspecies of tigers have disappeared from the planet since the 1930s. The Balinese, Javan, and Caspian tigers are gone. Gone. There are no individuals in zoos, no hope of re-population. All we have left are a few dusty pelts and photos.

For real. 

Photo by Mayankkatiyar / Wikimedia

That leaves us with nine subspecies of these iconic animals, and all of them are endangered. 

Enter the World Wildlife Fund. We know its name, and most of us recognize the panda symbol, but WWF is not just a big front that shells out pretty calendars and stuffed toys to make a profit. The people behind the panda, like Eric Dinerstein (who contributed a great tiger story to my book, The Back Road to Crazy), are helping us hold on to the few tigers we have left. 

The proof is in the, well, proof.


At last.
And hope is a powerful force. 

WWF is on a roll, and they're dedicated to doubling the world's tiger population by 2022, the next Chinese Year of the Tiger.

Let's get on board and help them do it.