Be A Junior Ranger

A Junior Ranger walks down a forest trail.

NPS/Josh Spice

 

If you love learning about geology, history and wildlife you can now explore Yukon-Charley Rivers Junior Ranger activities!

Become a Junior Ranger in person or from home! Complete our Junior Ranger Activity Book to earn a junior ranger badge! Additionally, you can answer the questions in the three activities below for a special Junior Ranger patch. We hope this program inspires you to explore, learn, and protect Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve!

 

Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve Junior Ranger Activity Book

Cover Illustration by Ellen Devine

Want to discover what makes Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve such a special place?

Pick up a copy in person (or download here) of Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve Junior Ranger Activity Book to start your adventure. This Junior Ranger program is designed for people of all ages to enjoy. Complete the book and earn your Junior Ranger badge!

Explore the mighty Yukon River and the wild Charley River by boat.
Learn about the history, geology, and animals of the preserve.
Help Protect the preserve and keep it a special place for generations to come.

 

Additional Virtual Junior Ranger Activities

• Learn How Yukon Geology Rocks!

• Explore Life in the Preserve

• Protecting Peregrine Falcons

 

Yukon River Geology

NPS Photo/ Stephen Lias

Learn How Yukon Geology Rocks

Take a quick look at the pictures on the Geology Down the Yukon Guide. The layers in the rocks are so big compared to the people floating in the picture to the right! Because many of the rocks in the preserve are sedimentary rocks, try the experiment below to visualize how some sedimentary rocks were formed.

Rock Experiment instructions:

1. Gather these items:
   • one tall clear container filled with water
   • one cup of dried beans
   • one cup of dried rice
   • timer
2. Drop a handful of rice into the container and use the timer to time how long it takes all the pieces of rice to fall to the bottom.
3. Drop a handful of beans into the container and use the timer to time how long it takes all the beans to fall to the bottom.
4. Which was faster, the beans or the rice?

Now imagine those beans and rice are different sizes of rocks. Water moves rocks around and then the bigger or heavier pieces fall to the bottom!

Good job with your rockin' experiment! Now that we can imagine how these rocks were formed now we have to imagine where they were formed. Even though the Yukon River can form sedimentary rocks like this over time, the river did not form the rocks you can see as you float in its waters. Many of the rock formations that you see along the Yukon River were actually formed a really long time ago in the bottom of the ocean!

 

Explore Life in the Preserve

Go to the page The Hendricks Family at Coal Creek

• read the section "Life at Coal Creek Camp."

Go to the page The Subsistence Way of Life

• read the first paragraph on the page that describes subsistence.

1. Now think about your family and daily activities, what do you have for dinner? What are your chores? What do you do for fun?
2. For each of these three ways of life (miners, subsistence users, and you) make a list or draw what is used for food, water, and shelter.
   1. What are the differences? What are the similarities?

 

Protecting Peregrine Falcons

Read the first three paragraphs of the Peregrine Falcons page to discover how far some falcons migrate and then think about your answers to the questions below.

1. Do falcons migrate near you?
2. Imagine you are a migrating peregrine falcon. What do you think you would need to survive during your long journey?
3. What could you do to help make sure natural areas near you are safe for migrating birds?

 

Explore, Learn, Protect

Tell someone your answers to the questions below:

1. What would you want to see and do if you visited Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve?
2. What could you do to help keep this special place wild?

Congratulations!

You have completed the Junior Ranger virtual visit activities for Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve!
Please e-mail the preserve with your answers to the last two questions and we will send you a Junior Ranger badge!