1. Read a book and write a report.
2. Visit the WCS Web site.
3. Take the Rainforest Pledge and choose three courses of action you will follow to conserve wildlife and wild places in tropical rainforest regions and in the area where you live.

Official Wildlife Conservation Society Junior Certificate

Grownups' Guidelines

1. Read a Book and Write a Report.
   Many of the titles in our list may be difficult to find. Your child may need to visit a library or order a title from an online bookstore. If the student is doing this as a class project, the teacher may have arranged to have some titles available at school. Other possible sources include gift shops at your local zoo or science museum or even the publishing company itself. In Search of Gorillas: Adventure in the Rain Forest can be purchased directly from the WCS Education Division, which can be reached during business hours (Eastern Time) at 1-800-937-5131.
   
   As you review your child's report, consider whether it includes the information outlined in the instructions. Are the responses thoughtful and thorough, and do they demonstrate that the book was actually read? The report should indicate what the message of the book is, as well as what the student's own opinions or ideas are about that message. Written reports should include at least three paragraphs, but need not be longer than two pages. If your child chooses to do a presentation that includes pictures or sounds, you may choose to require less written text--as long as the presentation demonstrates comprehension and reflection.
   
   
2. Visit the Web site of the Wildlife Conservation Society: www.wcs.org.
   WCS has many different pages on its Web site, some of which change periodically. Although the activities suggested here direct students to pages that are likely to remain on the site for some time, we recommend that you explore the site briefly before your child begins this part of the certificate challenge to confirm that these sections are still accessible. Even if these Web pages change, however, WCS will continue to post other information about international field projects. Thus, it should be easy to adapt the directions given for these Web activities to fit the information available online when your child undertakes this activity.
   
   Once again, your child may choose to record responses solely in written text or to incorporate personal drawings or paintings. Text may be written as an essay of at least two paragraphs. Alternatively, answers may be expressed in a poem or song. Some children may enjoy creating a jingle as if the information were going to be played as a radio commercial. Whatever the form, your child's work should include answers to the questions asked.
   
   
3. Take the Rainforest Pledge and Save Wildlife.
   It is very important to help children understand that many things they do have an impact on habitats somewhere--whether "somewhere" is on a continent half a planet away, or across the street from where they live. This activity is designed to encourage children to think about their own actions and how they can modify them to help save wildlife and wild places. Because the impact of these actions is often indirect, it may be difficult to appreciate their importance. Social studies classes often hold mock elections to help students appreciate the importance of voting within the democratic process. Similarly, you may want to celebrate the children's actions and persistence by helping them quantify and chart the number of items they don't use up, throw away or waste, the number of critters they see visiting the birdfeeder or the number of seedlings that grow after they've planted them. These records can be displayed in a graph or chart that can be displayed with the child's Junior Conservationist Certificate!