Junior Explorers

Camping is fun! It is such a great way to experience the outdoors and get to know how nature works from close quarters. As a Junior Explorer it is also an essential part of every adventure you experience because when you are out there in the Arctic, Amazon or Serengeti you’ve got to camp!

Campers become responsible campers when they follow some basic rules of camping that helps keep the environment safe. Remember that time in Mission Serengeti when Kia and Kyle were extra careful to not leave the campfire burning? So this spring and summer when you are out camping, here are some important rules you can follow to enjoy the outdoors as well as make sure that your fun time doesn’t ruin the lovely surroundings around you.

Don’t Litter

Keeping your surrounding clean is a rule you can follow anywhere – at home, at school and while you are camping. The orange peels, packs, canned food items should all be removed before you leave camp so that the place looks as pristine as before and to avoid any wild animal accidentally eating your leftovers.

Keep The Noise Down

Sound travels easily outdoors. It is therefore a good habit to speak only when necessary and in general avoid making any loud noises when you are camping. The noise you make can disturb wild animals too, and you might just lose an opportunity to sight a rare and beautiful bird that was sitting on a tree branch ahead of you and flew away because of the noise you made!

Careful With Fire

For many, camping means a campfire. It’s fun to sit around a warm fire and tell each other stories but do remember that in the forested area where you are sitting forest fires can start pretty easily! Be careful to put your fire off as soon as you leave campsite and never leave a campfire unattended.

Don’t Feed Wild Animals

Feeding a cute deer, rabbit or even a supposedly harmless looking bear cub could look tempting, but it is a strict no go zone. Wild animals are used to eating food from the wild and not the human processed food you may give them. Even if the food is raw, it’s safer to observe the animals from a distance as they might carry infections or behave in a way that you are not used to. Unless you have an animal expert with you who has experience handling animals, it’s best to leave wild animals alone and never feed them.

Pack Survival Gear

No matter where you are or where you go, the first thing to pack for camping is a survival gear that will keep you safe when something goes wrong like you hit a storm, lose your way or your vehicle breaks down. In the outdoors it might be some time before you get help and a survival gear will come in very very handy.

Image via wikimedia

Bird ancestors survived the mass extinction during the dinosaur era when the massive dinos couldn’t survive. Was it because they could fly, they has lighter bones or some other adaptation? Canadian scientists believe it is because birds had beaks!

66 million years ago, the scientists say, an asteroid hit the Earth and started a prolonged ‘nuclear winter’.  This happened during the cretaceous period when many kinds of dinosaurs lived, some of them just like the ones Junior Explorers saw in Mission Dinosaur Dig.

The asteroid started off a series of forest fires, killing the animals and plants. The dust and debris might have covered the sky so much that the surviving plants died too due to lack of sunlight.

“While you would think this would be a great time to be if you were a meat-eating dinosaur, because there would be all these dead animals, that’s really a short-term resource,” said Larson, assistant curator at Alberta’s Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum and a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Toronto. “The remains of all of these extinct animals would have relatively quickly decayed away.”

The researchers say that the only thing left to eat during this time would have been seeds as plants produce hundreds of seeds.

Most dinosaurs would have been unable to crack open these seeds using their sharp, pointed teeth. But the ancestors of modern birds, with their beaks, could happily keep on feasting as other animals starved.

The scientists also explain that this is the reason why dinosaurs called maniraptorans – that closely resemble birds didn’t survive the mass extinction but birds did. Maniraptorans had teeth to eat worms, insects and meat but not beaks that could break open seeds.

Image via youtube

Yellowstone National Park is home to the American Bison, Grey Wolf, Black Bear and many other charismatic species of animals and plants. If you could see these animals every day, you would witness the different survival strategies they have to find food, protect themselves and live. Recently, National Geographic captured one such dramatic moment in the wild, when a bison calf not more than 7 days old had not only to survive a night without the protection of its mother, but also fight off a wolf!

The calf got separated from its family and mom when they were trying to cross a river. The gush of water was too strong for the calf to swim across and it got stranded in a tiny gravel island. Its mom although tried to come and rescue her calf, but she could not do so that night.

The poor baby spent the night alone on that island. However, its trouble had only just begun.

A grey wolf saw the calf and thought it was a good chance for a hunt. Oh! How wrong it was!!

The bison calf was tiny but as soon as the wolf charged him, he fought right back. Just when the wolf seemed to catch hold of the calf’s neck, Bison mom arrived!

The wolf retracted but the brave calf held to his ground and began chasing the predator for a change!

Image via youtube

Finally, having shown who was the mightier of the two, the calf ran to mom for a quick snack break.

Watch the video below and if you want your child to be part of an adventure where the grey wolves, bison, elk and black bear of Yellowstone come alive right at home, make him a Junior Explorer today! There are so many more dramatic moments that he can experience as a Junior Explorer.

Multitasking moms are everywhere! Take the case of these moms that carry their baby on their backs while they also look for food, hide from predators or jump from place to place!

This mother’s day celebrate moms who effortlessly manage to take care of their kids while doing 10 other things simultaneously! Do they remind you of your own multi-tasking super caring mom?

  Opposum

via cc/Flickr

Opossum mothers carry their babies on their back while traveling from place to place and in search of food. The 8-9 baby opossum have a gala ride on mom’s back while she takes care of all of them at once!

There’s a predator that’s changing Everglades! Play Mission Everglades to know what you can do to save the ecosystem and its animals like the opossum and American alligator from this invasive species.

Wolf Spider

via cc/Flickr

Female wolf spiders lay dozens of eggs at a time and when the baby spiders hatch, they climb on mom’s back and stay there until they are big enough to take care of themselves.

Common Merganser

via cc/Flickr

Common merganser chicks often ride on mom’s back to not just keep themselves from getting wet, but be safe from water predators! Swans and other water birds are known for back riding too.

Anteater

via cc/Flickr

Anteater moms carry their baby on their back where they remain easily camouflaged and fool predators from believing that the baby is just the part of the fur!

Ring tailed Lemur

via cc/Flickr

Lemur babies ride on their mom’s back till they are 3-4 months old for protection, care and that extra warmth that only mom can provide!

Gorilla

via cc/Flickr

Gorilla babies  love to stay on top of mom’s back because it feels much safer their than the ground. Mom takes care of their meals, teaches them how to eat and pick the right fruits to eat and protect themselves from any danger until they are about 2 years old. Mommy gorillas also carry baby on their shoulders and lap.

Cecil the Lion via wikimedia

  Nearly a year after Zimbabwe’s most famous lion Cecil was illegally hunted, a new children’s book is bringing back the happy memories of the lion and his pride.

Written by Craig Hatkoff and his two daughters, Juliana and Isabella, the book Cecil’s Pride: The True Story Of A Lion King tells the story of the lion when he lived.

“Cecil’s death was a very dark moment that tapped into a zeitgeist of anger about our endangered species, and indeed our planet as a whole,” Hatkoff said to The Dodo. “The whole world knew how Cecil died; we wanted to tell the story about how Cecil lived.”

“We found Cecil’s ‘biographer,’ researcher Brent Stapelkamp, who kept watch over Cecil for nine years,” Hatkoff explained. “Brent had also taken stunning photographs of Cecil that we were able to use throughout the book.”

A Pride of Lions

Lions are the only wild cats that live in a pride that consists of a lion, 2-3 lionesses and their cubs. In Mission Serengeti, Junior Explorers helped one of these lion prides find prey.

What was unusual about Cecil’s pride was that there was another male lion who was part of the pride name Jericho. Instead of fighting each other the two worked together till Cecil’s death and even after that Jericho continued to look after Cecil’s cubs.

Play Mission Serengeti and Mission Wild Cats to learn more about lions, tigers and other cats of the world and do check the book to remember Cecil the magnificent lion in a happy way!

The variety of plants and animals on earth is dizzying. In fact, if you count the known and unknown creatures, there are approximately 8,700,000 species.

Some of these creatures are found on land and some are found in water. Some of them live where it’s cold and others where it’s hot. The diversity of climate, rainfall, soil, and water conditions across the planet has resulted in plants and animals learning to live in different regions, which are called Biomes of the World and Junior Explorers have a chance to visit all these biomes and solve an eco-mystery there!

The 7 known biomes of the world are,

Ocean

Largest biome in the world, covering over 70 percent of the planet’s surface.

As a Junior Explorer you can explore the Ocean Biome in Mission Great Barrier Reef and Mission Gulf Coast. Find more about them here.

Tropical Forest

Greatest diversity of animals and plants among all forests is found in Tropical Forest Biome.  More than 75 percent of all toad and frog species in the world live in tropical Rainforests.

The Amazon rainforests is the largest tropical forest biome where Junior Explorer go on a mission to find a missing Jaguar!

Temperate Forest

The temperate forest biome is  found between tropical regions and barren, treeless lands. Yellowstone national park in US has this kind of forests and this is where Kia, Kyle and the Junior Explorers go to find what is the connection between the grey wolves that live in Yellowstone and the trees that grow here.

Mountain

Mountains are a kind of biome found on all continents and also under the ocean. Mountain biomes are home to a variety of plants and animals that have adapted to live in these conditions like Giant Panda, Pine trees, and Mountain Gorillas of Virunga in Africa.

As a Junior Explorer you can see a Mountain Gorilla and find what makes them our closest relatives in Mission Virunga.

Grassland

Zebra

As the name suggests such kind of biome is dominated by grass. They are also sometimes called savanna or prarrie depending on the place where such grassland biome is found.

In East Africa a huge area of grassland biome comes under the Serengeti National Park which famous for the annual migration of Wildebeests and Zebras. Junior Explorers witness this once in a lifetime migration in Mission Serengeti.

Desert

Desert biome has very little to no vegetation and the adaptation of the animals and plants living here is such that they can survive with least amount of water. Sahara desert, Gobi desert are two of the known desert biomes of the world.

Polar Region

Polar biomes are extremely cold with little to no vegetation. Divided into Arctic in the North and Antarctic in the South, the Antarctic is the coldest, driest and windiest continent and Arctic is an ice-covered ocean surrounded by land.

Polar bears live in the Arctic and in one of the Junior Explorers Mission, you can go to this amazing ice covered landscape and help search for a mission polar bear mom separated from her cubs.

Junior Explorers is a journey to different biomes of the world as your child solves mysteries and learns about the different animals and plants that live in these places. It is the greatest adventure for your child. Make him or her a Junior Explorer today!

Spring is a wonderful time for bird watching. From March till May dozens of bird species leave their winter homes and travel back North as part of the Spring Migration. Although the journey has already started, it’s still a good time to catch a glimpse of these beautiful birds.

Here are 5 places in United States you need to head right now, if you want to see birds like the pectoral sandpipers, great egrets, ospreys, western kingbirds, scissor-tailed flycatchers and brown thrasher.

Texas Gulf Coast

Black necked stilt via wikimedia

Gulf Of Mexico’s Texas side is a great place to see migrating birds as it is usually the first land mass birds see too after days of flying over sea, some flying for more than 18 hours!

Warblers, Sanhill cranes and geese are some birds you can spot at Rio Grande Valley or he Clive Runnells Family Mad Island Marsh Preserve in Matagorda County.

Great Lakes

Trumpeter Swan via wikimedia

Wetlands and Forests on the Great Lakes region of the Canadian-American border is yet another place worth going to if you are interested in watching migratory birds. Here, The Magee Marsh Wildlife Area east of Toledo, Ohio, on Lake Erie is a good place to head too in May to watch myrtle, yellow and Cape May warblers.

Central Park, New York

Bird watchers in Central Park, via wikimedia

Surprising as it may seem, this central green haven in New York city is a great place to see birds! Very close to Junior Explorers Mission Center, the park is where around 400 species of birds have been spotted over the years. Spring time is good to spot warblers and may be Kia and Kyle too with their binoculars looking for birds!

Delaware Bay

Birds on the shore at Delaware Bay, via wikimedia

Early May, Horseshoe crabs begin spawning at the bay and that’s the perfect time to visit and find hundreds and thousands of shorebirds in the area. sandpipers, sanderlings and ruddy turnstones are some of the birds to looks out for.

Point Reyes National Seashore, California

Long Billed Curlew at Point Reyes, via wikimedia

On the Pacific coast, this 70,000-acre area is the best place to spot spring migratory birds. Half of all known birds in US are found here in a variety of habitats like grasslands, forests and wetlands. Northern spotted owl and Snowy plover are two threatened species to look out for.

Migration is a wonderful phenomenon of the animal world observed in all kinds of animals from birds to whales and wildebeests of Serengeti. Junior Explorers brings this experience into your home through our fun missions developed for children 6-11 years old. If you want your child to expreince nature like never before, make him a Junior Explorer today!

Photographer Nick Brandt is on a mission to save Africa and its wild habitats. To do that, in his latest project,  Inherit the Dust, a photo series and book, he has taken life-sized cutouts of wild animals and placed them in places which are wastelands or streets or urban cities today but were once, home and habitat of these animals.

“Having been traveling to East Africa for the last 15 years and seeing what’s becoming of the natural world there, what’s completely shocked and disturbed me is the rapid escalation of devastation to the environment in the last few years,” Brandt said to Fastcoexist.

He says that a stretch of arid plains that was home to zebras outside Thika in Kenya became a busy construction site in just 4 years.

Brandt has a strong argument against such development.

“As more and more areas of Africa are annihilated environmentally, more and more animal populations are destroyed,” Brandt says. “Those that remain will become ever more precious and highly valued, and so the world will come see them. In terms of long-term economic benefit, they have something quite unique and quite extraordinary.”

That’s the reason, what remains has to be saved – both for the economic benefit and the ecological benefit.

See some of the images captured by the photographer.

All images Nick Brandt

Mini Mission For Junior Explorers

In Mission Amazon just like the habitat of a jaguar got destroyed, in every part of the world, there is some kind of urbanization taking place that is changing animal habitats to homes, malls, factories for human use. As a Junior Explorer, you can observe the changes happening in your neighborhood and ask your parents, or grandparents what the same place was like when they were younger. You will be surprised to hear their stories – that we are sure!

The animal kingdom is full of exceptional architects with an ability to build homes that are not only comfortable and keep them safe, but that are a marvel to look at. And we are not just talking about birds here!

Take a look at these proven master architects of the animal world and their masterpieces!

Wasp

The circular cabbage-like homes of wasps are made out of scraps of wood fiber mixed with saliva.

Image by Ingrid Taylor

Social Weaver Birds

These birds from Africa are not building nests for a small family. Each nest houses at least 100s at a time and therefore they are built on such a large scale!

Image by Ralph Malan and Paul Keller

Beavers

Sticks, mud and lots of hardwork is what helps beavers construct the sturdy lodges near water that can even have many rooms within it!

Image by Mark Gallagher

Termite

Termite homes are more like an apartment or fortresses. Mound-building termites live in Africa, Australia and South America and the mounds they create are enormous — as big as 30 meters in diameter.

Career Shell

Found in tropical and subtropical ocean waters, these snails protect their soft body parts with a shell covering constructed from old shells cemented together to give a spiral shape.

Image by Park.org

  When  a team of 25 scientists from Field Museum travelled to a remote part of the Peruvian region Amazon rainforest, they had no idea they would be capturing some incredible images of wildlife. Not only did they come back with a bunch of animal selfies, the team probably discovered 19 new species too!

Amazon is the largest rainforest in the world and when Kia & Kyle and the Junior Explorer were here for Mission Amazon, they discovered a whole range of animals like the Jaguar, the scarlet macaw and the rare golden lion tamarin.

In the 17 days that the team of scientists was there in the forest, they recorded 1,820 animal and plant species on land and water. About 19 of those are believed to be new discoveries. The team set up 14-motion-activated camera traps and a drone to capture the region’s biodiversity.

Here are some of the images shared by the Field Musuem’s Facebook page,

Crab eating Raccoon. Image via Facebook page of Field Museum

Ocelot. Image via Facebook Page of Field Museum

Salvin’s Currasow. Image via Facebook page of Field Museum.

  Giant Armadillo. Image via Facebook page of Field Museum.

Grey-winged Trumpeter. Image via Facebook page of Field Museum

South American Tapir. Image via Facebook page of Field Museum

Spix’s Guan. Image via Facebook page of Field Museum

via giphy.com

With just one day to go until Earth Day 2016, here is a list of things you can do to celebrate the event in a big way!

Send Us Pictures Of Your Favorite Places On Earth

One of our favorite places on earth is the Serengeti plains of East Africa where thousands of wildebeests roam.

We all have our favorite places. It could be a park, a beach, a tree, a garden, a waterfall or your home! We would love to see the place on this planet that you love the most. Share your pictures with us using hashtag #MyEarthMyHome on twitter, facebook, instagram or on a mail sent to [email protected] with the subject Earth Day. We will share your photos and our favorite places on earth entire day tomorrow April 22 Earth Day!

Play A Nature Mystery Game Pull out nature related objects from a mystery bag. What will it be? Pebbles, leaves, twigs, fossils… This is a game you’d love to play with your gang of friends and celebrate Earth’s treasures lying all around us in a grand way.Find details of Nature Mystery Bag Game here.

Take The Junior Explorers Earth Day Challenge

Our earth is the only living planet of the solar system. Do you know how old it is or where is the name ‘earth’ derived from? Take the earth day quiz and learn fascinating facts about our planet. Click here to play Junior Explorers Earth Day Quiz

Make An Earth Day Greeting Card

Via Coloring Page Printables

Paper, pencil and some colors are all you need to make a sweet greeting card for Mother Earth and tell her how much you love her! If you are recycling old stuff to make this card, it’ll be a double delight for the planet!

Attend a Local Earth Day Event  

There are wonderful festivals, carnivals, and activities happening around the world to celebrate Earth Day. Don’t miss your local Earth Day Event! Find out what’s happening in your hometown here.

Watch A Movie About Earth Day

Do you know why Earth Day is celebrated? Do you need ideas on how to protect your planet? Learn from this cute short film and kids just like you…. Watch the movie here.

Adopt an Animal

via giphy.com

Earth Day is the perfect time to make a donation to environmental causes that you believe in. At Junior Explorers, we love wildlife and animals and do whatever we can to protect them. There are many animals you can “adopt” by making a donation to care for the continuation of that species. Check out the World Wildlife Foundation’s list of species you can protect here and decide as a family to care for wildlife in nature!

Play A Junior Explorers Mission With Friends If your friends are not a Junior Explorer already, this is your chance to take them for an exciting adventure. You can play with them Mission Arctic, Mission Everglades, Mission Wild Cats, Mission Amazon or any of the other wonderful missions your received. Show them how together with Kia and Kyle you are trying to save our planet and celebrating Earth Day everyday!

Join NASA’s 24 Seven Celebration Of Earth Day

via giphy.com

  For one day, this April 22, 2016, NASA wants to capture what people all around the world are doing to protect, improve and celebrate Earth – and they need your help. Take a picture or a short video of whatever Earth-focused activity you are doing on Earth Day and post it on social media with the hashtag #24Seven. Pictures and videos can be posted to Twitter, Instagram and to the official NASA Facebook Event page.

 Read A Nature Book

If you don’t want to go out, and don’t have time to indulge in a major activity, you can still show your affection for our blue planet by reading a story that revolves around nature and environment. What about Dr. Seuss’s famous book – The Lorax.

Recycle! Create Something New From Old Things If you are a Junior Explorer, you already know how much we love to recycle and keep our planet safe from trash that is piling up and making it dirty and polluted. There are many recycling crafts you can do on Earth day like, Recycled Bottles Bowling Recycled Twig Picture Frame Rock Animals

Are you ready to celebrate Earth Day 2016? 22nd April is Earth day and we plan to celebrate it in a big way with you!

Let’s start by finding out how much we know about our planet, through this fun earth day challenge! See if you can beat everyone and be the top scorer!

    Loading Junior Explorers Earth Day Challenge

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Imagine every time you flipped your ponytail, music erupted from it or every time you ran, your feet created a musical note! We might not make this kind of music but there are certain birds that can do something very similar!

Scientists from the University of Califronia have found two species of broadbill from East Africa who are accomplished wing singers!

What is wing singing?

During their breeding season, these birds make a particular song with their wings that sounds something like ‘arrogaah’ say the scientists. They explain that when air hits certain feathers—at the right speed and angle—it causes them to vibrate. And this rapid oscillation produces sound.

But don’t think that the birds let their wings sing all the time. Usually, these birds use their wings like any other bird for flying like the snowy owl of Mission Arctic or raven of Mission Yellowstone. The characteristic music is only heard when the birds want to be heard, especially by their would-be mates.

Listen to the wing song

Can you think of a way to move your hands or legs someway that it can make music? Won’t it be a fun thing to try? Do explore and share your secret with us so that Kia and Kyle can try it out too!

Remember the story of the penguin that swims for miles each year to reunite with its savior? (Read it here) Just like the penguin, it seems there’s another bird too that has not forgotten to say thank you in the most adorable manner.

Image via Facebook

Meet this swan living at the Abbotsbury Swannery in Dorset. A few years ago, Richard Wiese, renowned TV presenter had visited the Swannery to host the TV show Born To Explore when he first met the bird. The swan had been injured from flying into a chain link fence and was undergoing treatment.

The bird was nursed back to health by Richard when he was there.

Now, years later, when the presenter returned to the same place, the swan seemed to recognise him instantly and embraced the presenter in a tight neck wrap!

‘I pulled it to my chest and somehow it felt comfortable or safe, and within minutes it just surrendered itself. It literally took its neck and wrapped it around mine,’ Wiese told ABC News.

‘When I put it next to me I could feel its heart beating and it just relaxed its neck and wrapped it around mine. It’s a wonderful moment when an animal totally trusts you,’ he added.

Swans are not really affectionate creatures. They are generally deemed to be ‘aggressive’ and that’s why these photos have captured a very rare gesture.

The moving stories of animals bonding with humans are rare but it is not difficult to assume that they can become more common if humans understand animals better and let animals feel safe around us.

As a Junior Explorer, when your child plays the monthly missions, experiences a new ecosystem, and learns about varied animals, he or she starts building that connection too that might one day help them create a loving bond with animals. Isn’t that a good way to lead them to a safe, and green future? If you think so too, let your child become a Junior Explorer today!

Sharks are highly intelligent animals and have super senses that help them navigate in the waters as well as detect and catch prey miles away from them. But have you even wondered how do two sharks communicate with each other?

It’s a mystery that scientists are still trying to solve.

It is known that animals communicate through hearing, smelling, seeing, sending out chemical signals and by detecting electric fields. Sharks use electric fields to sense where their prey is but we’re sure the poor prey wouldn’t exactly want this kind of communication!

Sharks mostly live a solitary life and therefore it is hard to tell how they communicate with each other. But when in groups, scientists have observed sharks arching their bodies and that is one way to communicate. It could mean – “My food! Don’t go near that fish!” Or maybe “ fin bro! I’m trying to take a nap here!”

Sharks also communicate by detecting vibrations. The vibrations of another shark or any object around them are felt easily by them and it helps to navigate without bumping.

Smell is definitely another way sharks detect things and that could possibly be an important means of communication between sharks. Unlike our nostrils, shark nostrils are far apart from each other. That’s why the shark can detect the distance of an object by calculating the time it takes for the smell to carry from one nostril to another!