Hold on to that Balloon!

Students are often very excited to learn about things that they can personally do to help wild animals. Taking action, and knowing your actions are having a positive impact, can be very empowering. 

During our grade 4 Keep It Wild! workshop, Save our Seas, students learn about the impact that human pollution has on ocean animals. They also learn simple things that they can do to make a positive change for wild animals. One such action is to prevent the release of balloons into our environment. Once balloons break and come down to earth, they can be ingested by wild animals, and their attachments can entangle wild animals. 

 Take a few minutes to learn more about the impact of balloons at: Alliance for Balloon Education. Then take a few more minutes to tell someone else about the negative impact the release of balloons can have. 

Entangled Bird (Photo: Alliance for Balloon Education)

Chimps and Coffee

Last spring the grade 5/6 class at Downtown Alternative School participated in a Keep It Wild! workshop about chimpanzees. They had a chance to learn all about the similarities and differences between humans and their closest living relative. They also learned about some great ways to help chimpanzees in the wild and in captivity. Thanks to Abby for sharing her great chimpanzee artwork!

Did you know that in the last 100 years, the chimpanzee population has dropped from 2 million to less than 300,000 chimps? Each year their forest habitat is lost at a rate of four million hectares each year. The Jane Goodall Institute has launched a new Roots & Shoots campaign to help chimpanzees called What's in your cup? Find out more about the connections between coffee consumption and chimpanzee habitats, and find out what you can do to make a difference at: Roots & Shoots