This document outlines several activities related to learning about endangered and threatened species (P.E.T.S.). The activities include watching a wildlife movie and discussing it, exploring an owl pellet, completing a geography activity labeling habitats and species, putting on a P.E.T.S. play, visiting a zoo or national park and journaling observations, creating a public service announcement about P.E.T.S., researching the health and care of a chosen species, playing a P.E.T.S. bingo game, researching and presenting on a chosen species' habitat and ecology, creating a food chain for local ecosystems, and making a puzzle with a conservation message. The activities aim to educate about P

1. Movie Night Activity
The objective of this activity is two‐fold: Learn about
endangered and threatened species while having fun
with your friends and/or family.
The movie has to be focused on wildlife and one that you have not yet
watched. When the movie is over, talk about it with your friends or family.
What did you like best? Which did you like least? Was there anything that
surprised you? Do you think the film showed animals the way they really act?
Why or why not?
Just so you know: The film can be an animated one if you want to watch one. It
would be best to watch one that is about endangered or threatened species
since that is what this badge challenge is all about.

2. Owl Pellet Activity
Objective: One of our P.E.T.S. is the Mexican Spotted Owl. This activity will help you learn about
owls in general including what they eat. The activity provides a “hands‐on” experience to the
young biologist and is a fun way to learn about owls.
What you need to complete to complete this activity: You will need 1 Nature‐Watch Owl pellet
Starter kit which includes everything you need to complete the activity. To order one online, go to
www.nature‐watch.com . The cost of this is currently $19.95. Order the “owl pellet activity kit”
(product #400).
Things to think about and talk to your friends and/or family about while exploring your owl pellet:
 How many types of bones did you find?
 What kinds of prey do owls eat?
 What was the largest animal bone that you found? The smallest?
 Did you find anything surprising? If so, what?
 What was the most interesting part of the activity?

3. Geography Activity
Objective: To learn about wildlife habitats and know what types of species live in each type of
habitats.
Directions:
 Color all the map (see “Templates” in back of handbook) habitat and species name labels.
 Cut out the habitat and species names labels.
 Place all the labels in the correct places on the map. When you are sure that have them
correct, check the answer key to make sure they are right. Once you have them placed on
the map correctly, glue them on the map.
 Show this to your troop leader to get credit for this activity.
Habitats (Utah):
1. Polar/arctic areas
2. Mountains
3. Oceans
4. Deserts
5. Savannah/grasslands/prairies
6. Tropical rainforest
7. Woodland/forest
8. Tundra
9. Taiga
10. Wetland areas/marshes
11. Pond
12. Rivers/lakes
13. Coral reef
14. Deciduous forest
15. Tide pool
16. Cave
 List of P.E.T.S. (Utah)
 List of Habitats found in state (Utah)
**Remember that some species live in more than one habitat. Place them in the one
identified in the answer key. **

4. P.E.T.S. Play Activity
If wildlife could talk, what do you think they
would say? This activity will help the whole troop
get involved and learn about our endangered and
threatened species.
All the information that is needed to perform this play can be found in
Appendix “B” of the handbook.
 List of P.E.T.S that have speaking parts are hand puppets that the troop
make together.
 Dialogue and song are found in the appendix as well, but you can change
it around to accommodate your troop since no one has the same amount
of scouts in their troops.
 This play is only about 15minutes in length.
 Each troop will have to be creative and make up their own props needed
for their own play.
As always, have fun and learn about P.E.T.S!

5. Zoo/National Park Visit Activity
This activity is a fun way to learn about wildlife in a natural
environment. You will need to be able to go into a zoo or a
national park such as Yellowstone National Park to
complete this activity. By observing wildlife firsthand, you
can have a unique experience that will give you a better
understanding of nature and why it is so important to
protect the wildlife that share our planet with us!
Peregrine Falcon Good Luck and Have Fun!
Before you head out to the zoo or go with your family to the National Park,
make sure you have the following items:
 Notebook or Journal to write down observations of what you saw
during your visit.
 Pencils or pens (of course!)
 Crayons, color pencils, or paints to draw the different animals that you
see.
 Camera (optional) to take pictures to put in your journal.
Reminder: The whole point of this activity is to get you to really find out as
much as you can about how as many species as you can find, but reflect on
what impact humans have on wildlife as well.

6. Public Service Announcement (PSA)
A public service announcement is a way to raise awareness about a topic that you feel strongly
about and want others to know more about that subject. There are several ways to create a PSA
like making a poster, writing a song about it and singing it, or even making a video that you can
launch on YouTube.
For this activity, you must create an original PSA about P.E.T.S. and present it in a way that allows
others to learn about them and why it is so important to protect them from going extinct. Is there
a particular species that you like? You can focus on just one species or multiple species. After you
have finished, you will need to share it with others and tell why you made the PSA and why it is
important to you to teach others about endangered and threatened species living in your state.
If you have never created a PSA, check out the Internet for suggestions of how to make one and if
you plan to make a video to launch on YouTube, you will need to have an adult help you and make
sure your video is within the guidelines they have for their site.

7. Health and Care Activity
Objective: To learn how wildlife specialists care for endangered and threatened species that live
in captivity.
Directions: You must imagine yourself as a new trainee at a wildlife sanctuary or refugee for
endangered wildlife. As part of your training, you are assigned to one species (you chose!) and will
be responsible for its overall care and if it gets sick, you will have to take care of it until it gets
better. To complete this activity, you must use either the library or Internet to learn all about the
species and what a typical sanctuary/refugee would do to care for that species. Below are some
guidelines to help you with this activity. Once you have completed this activity, you can present the
information to your family, troop or both in whatever way you would like such as reading an essay
you have written, a collage you have made or any other media you wish to present it.
Guidelines:
 Describe your chosen species
 What type of diet does your species have?
 What are some reasons that your species would be in captivity?
 What types of diseases does your species typically have? What would a caregiver do to
make the species feel better? (Describe one or two specific scenarios?
 What would be the expected lifespan of a species in captivity compared to the same
species in the wild?
 If you find an actual sanctuary for your specific species while searching the Internet, what
did you find out about it? Did you contact them? If so, what information did they give you
that surprise you?

8. P.E.T.S. Bingo Game
This activity puts a twist on the traditional Bingo game that you have probably played with family
and friends. The cards have images of some of the many P.E.T.S. When the caller reads one of the
description cards, you have to guess what species he/she is describing to you. If you think you
know the species then place a marker on the box that has that species. After you have five
markers diagonal, left to right, or top to bottom, yell “Bingo!” to see if you guess the all the species
correctly!
Bingo Playing Cards and Description Cards can be found in Appendix “B”

9. Science (Habitat) Activity
Objective: Learn about endangered/threatened species; raise awareness of wildlife and how
human interactions and/or global warming affect wildlife.
What you need to do to complete this activity:
Pick a species from the list in the appendix and answer the following questions about the species.
You can do this in an essay or if you want to be more creative you can make a poster/collage of
you selected species as long as all of the following questions are answered about that species.
Questions:
 Name of Species
 Anatomy/Appearance (Example: height, weight, colors, feather or fur?)
 Locomotion (How does your species move?)
 Diet (What does your species eat?)
 Habitat/Range (Where does your species live? Describe it.)
 Adoptions (How has your species change over time to live and survive?)
 Life Cycle/Reproduction (How long does your species live? When do they have offspring?)
 Behavior: Defense/Offense (What does your species do when threatened? When they
attack prey/enemies?)
 Enemies (Who does your species not get along with or fight with for food/territory?)
 Something Special (What makes your species unique?)
 Classification (Example: Leatherback Sea Turtles @ Demochelys coriacea)
When you finish your essay or poster/collage, give it to your troop leader so you can get credit for
this activity.

10. Food Chain Activity
Objectives: Learn where the P.E.T.S that live in
our state live and about their position in nature's
food chains.
What you will need to complete this activity:
For this activity, you must choose one or more of
the ecosystems listed below and put all of the
P.E.T.S. that are listed in the index in their correct
ecosystem and in the correct position in the food
chain. You must include all the species that are in
that ecosystem including those that are included on the P.E.T.S. list. Below are some tips that will
help you to finish this activity, but you may use other resources to help you as well.
Do you think you can put a food chain together?
You eat food to get energy. This energy helps you to grow, jump, run, and play. People eat lots of
different types of meat, fish, fruits and vegetables. People are called “omnivores”.
All animals get energy from food. Some animals only eat meat. These animals are called
“carnivores”.
Some animals only eat plants. These types of animals are called “herbivores”.
Plants get their energy to grow from the sun, water and soil. The order that animals feed on other
plants and animals is called a food chain.
There are six different types of ecosystems: pond, meadow, forest, desert savanna, northern/arctic,
and of course, the whole Earth.

11. Message in a Puzzle Activity
Learning Objectives: Writing, Creativity
What you will need for this activity:
 Construction paper
 Crayons and/or markers
 Poster board or cardboard
 Glue, Scissors
 Envelope
Steps to Complete this Activity:
1. Select a pattern to copy from the attached pattern pages.
2. Cut out the shape of the species.
3. Place on a sheet of construction paper and trace the outline of the species.
4. Decorate the animal anyway you want to (eyes, nose, mouth, etc.)
5. Cut the shape into puzzle pieces (smaller if you want it to be harder, larger if you want to
make it easier to put together).
6. Write short letter and put into the envelope along with the puzzle.
7. Give it to a friend or parent to solve the puzzle.
8. Once they have put it together, they can read the letter you wrote about the species to tell
them about that species.
Enclosed:
 Envelope Pattern & Directions (Appendix “A”) Choose from two envelope patterns and you
may have to enlarge envelope of template so puzzle and letter fit inside.
 Species Patterns to select from for this activity
o Desert Tortoise
o Bald Eagle
o Peregrine Falcon
o Utah Prairie Dog
o Mexican Spotted Owl
o Grizzly Bear
o Black Footed Ferret
o Gray Wolf

12. Chocolate Desert Tortoises
Learning Objectives: Organizational, follow directions, learn about an endangered species.
Ingredients:
 1 pkg. (18 oz ) refrigerated sugar cookies dough
 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
 1 TB. Powdered sugar
 ½ tsp. Vanilla
 30 caramels, unwrapped
 ½ cup (3 oz) semisweet chocolate chips
 Silver decors (dragees)
Directions:
[1] Preheat oven @ 350 degrees F. Grease mini ( 1 ¼”) muffin pan cups. Remove dough
from wrapper; place in large bowl. Let dough stand at room temperature about 15 minutes.
[2] Add cocoa; powdered sugar and vanilla to dough; beat at medium speed of electric mixer
until well blended.
[3] Shape dough into 30 balls; press onto bottoms and up sides of muffin cups. Bake 10
minutes. Press 1 caramel into each chocolate cup. Return to oven 2 to 3 minutes or until
caramels are soft. Working quickly, press 5 pecans into caramels for legs and head. Let cool
in pan 5 minutes. Remove to wire rack; cool completely.
[4] Place wire rack over waxed paper. Place chocolate chips in small microwavable bowl.
Microwave at HIGH 1 to 1 ½ minutes. Stir after first minute and then at 30 second intervals
after first minute until chips are melted and smooth. Attach 2 silver decors (dragees) to head
with chocolate for eyes. Drizzle remaining chocolate over tops of tortoises as desired. Let
stand until chocolate is completely set.
** Makes 2 ½ dozen cookies**