More than 19 activities and crafts focusing on learning about endangered species are featured in the Ranger Rick NatureScope book, "Endangered Species: Wild and Rare." In the "Get the Connection" activity, students at the middle and high school levels poll other students and adults on their endangered species views and discuss the results. In the "Meet the Panda" activities, children research pandas to learn where pandas come from (the mountain regions of China), how big they are (up to 260 pounds), and what they eat (bamboo). Other activities involve learning why animals become endangered, such as through illegal trade in the "Wildlife for Sale" activity and by putting on a play to explain the effects of invasive plant species in the "Paradise Lost" activity.
Encouraging the exploration of the outdoors, parents and teachers can find several seasonal activities on the Ranger Rick website. In the "Campfire Fun" activities, kids look for spiders at night. They watch them weave webs and even feed them crickets and grasshoppers by placing captured bugs in the webs. After visiting a beach, kids can decorate picture frames and memory boxes with their shells and other beach treasures in the "Beach Memories" activities. With "Shore Things" activities, kids are reminded to be environmentally responsible when enjoying the outdoors by throwing away their trash, staying on trails, and avoiding the use of toxic herbicides and pesticides.
This Ranger Rick NatureScope book dedicates itself to teaching kids about amphibians and reptiles. With "Watchers at the Pond," kids take a trip to a local pond or creek to look for amphibian eggs and larvae. In "Reptile Countdown," young children create a counting book with various reptile pictures, such as one turtle followed by two gavials and finally ending with 12 tuataras. "People and Herps" teaches kids about the many myths that people have about herps, such as all turtles are slow and snakes are slimy. In "What Would You Do?" middle and high school kids discuss their own feelings on issues involving herps, such as taking reptiles out of the wild to become pets (illegal in some cases) and killing rattlesnakes out of fear.