The Case of the Gasping Garbage (6 page)
H
ow did Nell write Drake a secret message in
Chapter Three
? Find out by writing a secret message of your own.
MATERIALS
• lemon juice
• cotton swab
• blank piece of notebook paper
• lamp with 100-watt bulb
PROCEDURE
1.
Pour a little lemon juice into a small bowl.
2.
Dip the cotton swab into the lemon juice.
3.
Using the swab like a pen, write a message on the paper. Make sure you use plenty of lemon juice. Dip as often as needed.
4.
Allow the paper to dry completely.
5.
To read the message, switch on a lamp and wait until the lightbulb is very warm. Hold the paper close to it until the letters appear. It will take a minute or so. (Be careful, as the paper could catch on fire if it gets too hot! Have an adult help if you are unsure.)
How does this work?
Paper soaked in lemon juice burns at a lower temperature than regular paper. The lemon-juice letters scorch, turning brown, while the rest of the paper stays mostly white.
A
ll young naturalists around the globe, listen up! Nell Fossey here. We’ve got a major situation, and time is running out.
Here’s the scoop. The world population of frogs is decreasing. That’s right, the poor little frogs of the world are disappearing fast, and it’s up to us to save them. (After all, if we don’t save them, who will?)
Why are they disappearing? you ask. Good question. Let me think … how about ozone depletion, global warming, pollution, pesticides, habitat destruction, and acid rain for starters? Need I go on? I didn’t think so.
I’ve made a list of what you can do to help. Even if you don’t live in a froggy area, there’s plenty on the list for you to do. It’s a desperate situation. Calling all naturalists to the rescue!
Nell’s tips on what YOU can do
to SAVE THE FROGS:
1. Build a frog pond.
FIND OUT HOW TO BUILD A FROG POND:
www.planetpatrol.info/frogpond.html
www.loudounwildlife.org/HHFrogPond.htm
2. Plant a tree.
3. Become frog-smart regarding chemicals:
• Encourage your family to use organic (natural) lawn and garden products.
• Use cleaning products labeled biodegradable, which means they break down naturally.
• Dispose of hazardous wastes, such as paints, solvents, motor oil, etc., through your local waste-management center. DON’T pour them down the drain or dump them in your backyard, because they will end up in your local lakes, rivers, and streams.
4. Start a compost pile. Compost is a biodegradable, natural fertilizer that plants (and frogs!) love.
FIND OUT HOW TO START A COMPOST PILE:
aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/sustainable/slidesets/kidscompost/cover.html
www.copper-tree.ca/garden/compost.html
www.dnr.wi.gov/org/caer/ce/eek/earth/recycle/compost_waste.htm
5. Make sure your air conditioner doesn’t leak Freon. Freon depletes (eats away) the ozone layer, letting too much UV radiation through.
6. Because our frog friends continue to decline in population, please DON’T gather frog eggs, tadpoles, or adult frogs from the outdoors to keep as pets. If you want to raise a frog at home (in an appropriate environment), purchase a tadpole or frog from a pet store. Even then, TAKE CAUTION! Some pet stores sell tadpoles or young frogs that are actually bullfrogs and grow to be
enormous
, so make certain you know what species you’re buying! Also, never release your captive frog or tadpole into the outdoors without first checking with a wildlife specialist. Many frogs that don’t belong in an area end up taking over a habitat, even eating the smaller frogs. All in all, it makes the problem much worse! To be on the safe side, build an outdoor frog pond (see #1), sit back, and
let the frogs come to you
. “If you build it, they will come” is good advice, plus you will know you are doing something good for the environment. See
www.allaboutfrogs.org/info/index.html
for more information.
7. Write your government representatives and ask them to preserve wetlands and to support the Endangered Species Act.
8. Encourage your classroom to adopt a local stream or pond. Make a commitment to keep that stream or pond clean. Visit
www.adopt-a-stream.org
for more information.
9. Volunteer to help monitor the frog population.
CONTACT:
OR WRITE:
Frogwatch
National Wildlife Federation
11100 Wildlife Center Dr., Reston, VA 20190-5362
(800) 822-9919
10. Get involved with an organization to help care for animals and the environment.
SOME ORGANIZATIONS TO CONTACT:
Rainforest Action Network
www.ran.org/new/kidscorner/home/
221 Pine St., 5th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94104
(415) 398-4404
EPA Student Center
www.epa.gov/region5/students/index.htm
Webmaster
US EPA Region 5
77 W. Jackson Blvd.
Mail Code P-19J
Chicago, IL 60604
(312) 353-6353
Kids’ Planet
www.kidsplanet.org
1130 17th St. NW
Washington, DC 20036
(800) 385-9712
TUNZA For Children
(A United Nations Organization)
www.unep.org/tunza/children/default.asp
Outreach Unit
Division of Communications
and Public Information
UNEP
P.O. Box 30552
Nairobi, Kenya
tel: 254 20 762-3937; fax: 254 20 762-3927
e-mail: [email protected]
Has the Web site moved? Search for similar Web sites by using a search engine such as Google on the World Wide Web and typing combinations of words, such as FROGS KIDS or FROGS KIDS ENVIR ONMEN T or SAVE FROGS KIDS. You’ll find all kinds of froggy information!
QUIZ TIME: How Is a Frog Like a Canary?
Not long ago, miners used to bring a canary with them into the mine. Why, you wonder? To hear them sing, perhaps? Maybe to add a splash of color in what would otherwise be a dreary hole in the ground? Well, maybe. But the real reason is that canaries are highly sensitive to dangerous gases. Miners knew that if their canary collapsed, to get out of the mine fast before it was too late! In much the same way, frogs play a special role for scientists. Frogs are known as an “indicator species.” Because frogs are so sensitive to changes, scientists look at frogs as an indication of the health of an environment. If frogs in a particular area have six legs, or no eyes, or are dying rapidly, scientists know that something is wrong. Scientists must then figure out what’s causing the frogs to be so sick, and begin to take the appropriate steps to correct it.
Did You Know?
Every year in Britain, about 300,000 toads get squashed while trying to cross the road to reach their breeding grounds. To help the situation, volunteers spend their evenings loading the toads into buckets and carrying them across the roads.
