ECO-RANGERS

Growing Planet, a non-profit environmental organization, is dedicated to educating children, grades K-12, about conservation, biodiversity, recycling and other environmental issues as well as native plant restoration and reforestation projects throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Our environmental education program, called Eco Rangers, consists of a comprehensive classroom and hands-on training that helps children become more aware of the environment around them and what they can do to preserve and protect our natural resources.

Through Eco Rangers, children will learn about the relationships between nature and animals, between animals and humans, between humans and nature. Children will become more aware of the environment around them, and learn to respect the environment, instead of always taking it for granted.

The Eco Rangers program will consist of:

1. Biodiversity in science classes - Biodiversity or Biological Diversity consists of the immense variety in all living things. This is the diversity of genes within all living organisms, the diversity of species, and the diversity of the ecosystems such as coral reefs and forests. Students will also learn about our endangered species and what we can do to protect them, as well as how many species became extinct.
2. Air Pollution Prevention (i.e. Cleaner Air) - Students will learn:

• What is air pollution?
• What symptoms do air pollution cause? (damage to our mucus membranes, asthma, emphysema, etc.)
• Is air pollution bad for your health?
• Is there a group that keeps track of air pollution?
• What can I do to protect myself and my family?

In this program, children will also receive educational materials that they can share with their parents to learn about the "25 Things You Can Do to Improve Air Quality All the Time."

1. Eco Rangers Science Camp - With the partnerships of Daly City Parks and Recreation Department and California State Parks, Growing Planet is restoring Thornton Beach, a 58-acre parcel of California coastline and developing an educational nature center where hands-on environmental education will be provided. At Thornton Beach, children will attend day camps where they will learn about local ecology, seed collection and propagation of seeds in our state of the art greenhouse provided by Daly City Parks and Recreation Department.
2. Reforestation - Students will learn about the relationship between trees and the quality of air and how this affects our daily lives. Students will also learn about the effects that commercialism, forest fires and diseases have on wildlife and what they can do to prevent the depletion of our tree population. Students will participate in transplanting seedlings in areas that have been severely affected by forest fires or commercialism.

The Eco Rangers program has already been introduced in two Bay Area counties and we have received positive feedback from both the students and school personnel. If you would like to contribute, please go to DONATIONS. Thank you for your generosity.