Thoughts about Conservation by North Room Students

Every year National Geographic Live invites students in the Seattle area to attend special student matinees to meet Conservationists, naturalists and photo journalists.  The North Room responded to a presentation they saw with research, writing and oil pastel paintings.  Enjoy!

Conservation

By Ayar

Conservation is preserving, protecting and caring for Earth's life and natural resources, the resources we use in our daily life. Like wood, food, gas and fossil fuel. We don't realize the harm we do to the earth and it causes lots of problems. Because we burn the fossil fuels it breaks down the ozone layer and this causes global warming. Because of global warming the ice caps are melting and it takes away so many places for animals and life. When people cut down wood for houses and industries it takes away the forests to cleanse the air and not only that it takes away the homes for almost all the the population of animals.

The Giant Panda was going through a similar problem. It had been endangered for many years. Its bamboo forests were being cut down for food or art and they were suffering. People started to realize it and began reinforcing them and setting boundaries on the bamboo forests. They protected them and they started to grow in population and are almost fully recovered. What they did with the panda is 100% conservation. Not only did people protect and care for the panda they brought the population back to healthy state.

If people can get the giant pandas to a good state I think people are very capable of getting other animals and the life on earth into a good state too. If we can start realizing what we are doing and we do something about it we can protect the earth. By planting trees and restoring habitats and stopping the burning of fossil fuels we can do it.

Conservation by Boden 

We can help animals like frogs by conserving tropical forests. People are cutting down trees to use as fuel or lumber for housing and that is destroying their habitat. I recommend not cutting down trees or polluting water and air. That in itself helps so many animals. That’s conserving to save animals and wildlife. By helping frogs, you help other animals who share the same habitat. So if we save frogs we save so many animals because of the food chain because frogs eat insects and other animals eat frogs

In conclusion, do not use too much CO2, also known as carbon dioxide. It comes from burned fossil fuels which comes from coal, gas, and oil. Do not pollute and help conserve.

 

Conservation by Gus

You know how people say, “the sun will make the earth set on fire and kill us” they’re actually half right? The real answer is, no, we’re killing ourselves. I know it might seem crazy, but who’s burning the fossil fuel that will destroy the ozone layer? Us. we’re burning it. We’re killing ourselves. So how can we stop it? Well, conservation. 

Conservation is the balance between development and natural habitats. We need this humans are overly developing, which causes animals to lose an essential thing: space. We need to protect this space for biodiversity. Biodiversity is important because if one species is food for another species that can only live in a specific habitat and we develop that land, then the animals that rely on that species will starve. 

There are two kinds of resources: renewable resources such as water, air, food, and materials; and nonrenewable resources such as fossil fuels and minerals. We use renewable resources the most, but we still use nonrenewable resources, too. You are burning fossil fuels on every drive in your car or cooking on gas stoves. Even this is enough to deteriorate the ozone layer to become harmful to humans.

To conserve these resources, we need to use only what is necessary and not waste anything. For example, you could turn off your car when stopped or take public transportation. You could use less water. To save the planet, we can all try to reduce our carbon footprint using the methods above.

Conservation

By Harper

Conservation is protecting the life around us and letting it live. It is important because without it, millions of living things all around the world could be gone, and us humans would have to live with the fact that it was our fault. Eventually every single species would be wiped out, until the only ones left would be us and the ones cloned and engineered. We would never get to feel the wonders of nature again. There would be no pine forests filled with water falls, squirrels, or birds. We would never see the world at it’s purest. Is that the world you want to give to your children? Would that world appeal to them? Already hundreds of species go extinct every year. You can contribute in reducing that number down to zero through conservation.

The animal I have drawn is a poison dart frog. Poison dart frogs are happiest when the air in their environment is clean and unpolluted, as poison dart frogs breathe through their skin. Poison dart frogs have enough poison to kill 10 grown humans, or 20,000 mice. Poison dart frogs are critically endangered due to the loss of rain forest habitat.

I recommend helping by planting trees, reusing all sorts of things like paper, cardboard, bags (both plastic and paper). More options are picking up trash, not buying ivory and illegal animal products, using sustainable development to thrive, becoming vegetarian, and encouraging others to do the same. Sustainable development is building without hurting our environment and the things that live in it.

Conservation for Turtles and Tortoises

By Ian Montgomery

Conservation is very important for all animals including turtles and tortoises. Conservation is important for tortoises because tortoises eat tree leaves and if trees are cut down the tortoises will not get their food, and starve to death, so don't cut down trees.

Sea turtles are almost extinct because in the 1800’s and early 1900’s people hunted and ate sea turtles. Sea turtles also can run into plastic and bad chemicals in the ocean and get sick, thanks to people that pollute the ocean. We should find a more sustainable way of getting rid of trash. I recommend using reusable materials instead of plastic, like metal water bottles, reusable shopping bags, reusable napkins, so that sea turtles don’t go extinct.

If we all keep conservation going and contribute to protecting these animals, all animals will live on.

CONSERVING ORCAS

By Jordi

Conservation is protecting something so it does not become extinct. It is important because many animals need to be protected. They are dying due to poaching, over-hunting, habitat destruction, and many other reasons.

The orca, for example, is eating plastic in the water that is making it sick. Because it is sick, it does not eat the salmon it needs, and the orca starves to death. Plastic is killing many other animals and we need to do something to help.

One way we can help is using reusable items instead of plastic. Some things we can use are metal water bottles and reusable shopping bags. We can also help by cleaning up beaches. If we all pitched in it would benefit many animals.

Conservation

By Ken Tong

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Conservation is leaving animals in their natural habitats and letting them be wild. Conservation is also not littering and not cutting down trees. People are cutting down trees for lumber and places to develop houses. If we cut down lots of trees then animals don’t have shelter and if animals don’t have shelter then they won’t live. If we litter then the animals might get caught in the trash. For example, sometimes when you go to the beach for a picnic you can forget to pick up your plastic bags that holds your food. Dolphins and sea turtles can get caught in them and if they get caught in them they can choke.

If we leave animals in their natural habitat then they will have a chance to be wild. Even if the animal is realy cute like the sloth you still shouldn’t try to keep it. Conservation is important because if we didn’t conserve our beaches, oceans, forests, or deserts then we wouldn’t have as many animals as we do today.

You can help the cheetah by raising money for cheetah conservation organizations like National Geographic Big Cats Initiative. Did you know that in 1990 the cheetah population was around 100,000 now there are only around 9,000 to 12,000 left in the wild. You can also help by learning as much as you can about cheetahs and visiting Africa.

Why Otters are Important  

By Max

Currently conservation is a large topic in politics but most politicians don’t take much action to help animals or forests. The sea otter is endangered and their population is still declining; the reason I am informing you of this is that these otters play a key role in the environment by protecting kelp forests, these kelp forests are home to many fish and crustaceans, besides that they also sequesters carbon dioxide. The way these otters help these forests is they eat sea urchins that eat the kelp.

It used to have numbers in the hundreds of thousands but is now about three thousand or so; its fur was highly valued in the 18th-20th century so it population declined by a very large amount, the fur trade had a big part in that but when Fur Seals were no longer allowed to be hunted the Otter was banned from hunting as well.

Their population has been slowly increasing but still needs more help; you can help by leaving them alone if you find some or if you see plastic in any body of water just pick the plastic up.

Conservation                             

                                                                 By Rhea

Elephants are the cutest animals on the planet, at least I think so. I mean, the babies suck their trunks for comfort. How cute is that?! But they are in danger. People are killing them for their tusks. We can help by not buying ivory. If we don't buy ivory, they won't kill the elephants to sell it.

Elephants aren't the only animals on the endangered list. Whales, dolphins, and many ocean friends are in trouble, too. We can help this by not polluting the beaches, recycling, and encouraging others to do so, too. We also can help by taking shorter showers because that saves water. Conservation is when you do little things that add up to the good thing of saving the environment. Conservation is a good thing, so lets start conserving!

Wildlife Habitats

By Rose

Wildlife habitats are one of the key thing animals need to survive. So if we want help wild animals live we must not take their habitats. When people destroy their habitats they have no place to live, so they can go extinct.This is the reason why pandas are endangered animals.

One thing you can do to help save pandas and other animals is to donate to conservation organizations that help animal habitats so that people do not cut them down. A thing we can do that will help all animals is to take shorter showers to save water. We can also do less driving to reduce greenhouse gases. It is important to do this because if we don’t many animals can go extinct.

Hedgehogs and Conservation

By Ardin

Hedgehogs are largely domesticated animals; they have been for nearly 30 years. There are more hedgehogs living in people’s houses than there are in the wild. If we don’t save the remaining hedgehogs living in the wild, the population of other animals that eat hedgehogs will decrease, and that will affect other animals and so on.

Their natural habitats are hedgerows, meadows and woodlands in Africa, Asia, Europe and New Zealand. We can help hedgehogs by avoiding littering, plowing or making buildings in that type of area. You can also build a garden and a hedgehog or two might come and live in it for a while, that way you don’t have to have one as a pet and still be able to see them.

If you already have a domesticated hedgehog as a pet than do not let it go. If you do, it will probably die of starvation or it will get hit by a car. The reason for this is that it has not had any experience surviving by itself in the outside world, and it does not know what is safe to do. For example, if a hedgehog sees some food across the road, it will follow its instincts and cross the road, and a person in a car will not see the hedgehog and run over it.

And, finally, if you see a hedgehog in the wild and you love it, let it stay there, that is where it will be happiest.

Keep Our Planet Safe and Healthy

by Leah

Don’t be a meadow stomper! A meadow stomper is a person who does not stay on the trails when hiking. I learned this at Mount Rainier because my family goes camping and hiking there. The reason they want people to stay off the trails is so the animals can build their habitats where they like.

I drew a picture of a lady bug on a leaf because I like the red color and how they come to you. They are not afraid of you. They are fun to spot when hiking. We can help the lady bug by leaving enough leaves to eat and play on together. If people pick up a stones and plants, it will ruin the view for other hikers and animal’s habits.

Conservation is protecting plants and animals. We have to protect the environment, too. That means keeping our water clean by not littering on beaches and keeping trashes out of the sewers. This will help keep the salmon population alive. Conservation is very important because if we don’t have fresh water, we won’t have salmon, and the bears need salmon to be healthy. We have to protect the animals and plants so the food chain doesn’t break and all animals can survive.

You Can Help Animals

By Rowan

You can help the dolphins and many other animals by keeping trash out of the ocean. This is bad because all the dolphins are thinking that trash is food and eating it and dying from it.

Conservation is not taking wild animals and preserving natural habitats. I hope that no one will throw trash in the ocean and on the beaches. It’s also preserving animal habitats and not destroy land for businesses because that destroys animal habitats.

To help animals, I suggest we don’t throw trash in the ocean because fish will eat it and die from it. Don’t throw trash on the beach because turtles will eat it and choke. Don’t cut trees down because it ruins animal habitats. Preserve animal habitats so they have a place to live and not get attacked.

Wildlife Conservation by Lenin

Conservation is about keeping living things from becoming extinct. Biodiversity is important. It is important because we need different species of animals. And some species need others to survive.

For example, the great white shark needs fish, sea otters, and seals to survive. If these prey become extinct, the great white shark would starve and maybe become extinct too.

People hunt sharks for their fin and teeth. To prevent that type of hunt I recommend that we stop buying things that have shark teeth or shark fins. This will help by giving the hunters no more money. Then they’ll think it is useless and they would not hunt sharks anymore. We must learn to coexist with other species.

Conserving Wildlife

           by River

What is conservation?


Right now you might be thinking,“Who doesn’t know what conservation is ?” You’ll be surprised when I say that some people don't know what conservation means. To me conservation means protecting something that means a lot to you. For instance let’s say you love the whale but you decided to help the hawk, I mean I’m not saying it wouldn’t be good, it would! I’m just saying it would be harder to get excited about it or to get other people excited about it.

Why do we conserve?


We conserve to help, to give salvation. Why do we do that, you ask? We do that so that our favorite animals can live on! We also conserve so that we can live on. An example is:

Bees,

If bees were extinct, humans would probably have died out too because we wouldn’t have enough fruits and veggies to eat.

How can we help?

We can help by: using our resources wisely, not throwing plastics into the ocean, not polluting waters and not taking animals from their natural habitats. I help cheetahs by not taking them out of their natural habitat.

Conservation

By OLIVER

Conservation is caring for animals and their habitats, because if an animal is not cared for they could go extinct. We can care for animal’s habitats by not cutting down trees and preventing forest fires.

Conservation is not wasting things that could be used again, because if you throw something away that is renewable it's wasting. It ends up in the dump and rots for a long time and its bad for the environment. Then all the gases like methane and carbon dioxide goes into the air and we breathe it in, and it can make us sick. The gases can get into the animal's lungs like the caracal for instance. It’s lungs can get infected and hurt them. Or its prey could get sick and go extinct, then the caracal wouldn't have any food to eat and it will die out.

To conserve wildlife and keep pollution out of our air here are some things I recommend to do. Try to drive less and use bikes or just use our feet. Protect all animals, and if you love it let it be wild. Develop resources and give sufficient habitats to animals. Contribute money to environmental communities and help get the harmful gases out of the air.

Conservation by Elan

Conservation is helping animals by protecting them. We can protect them from things like poachers and illegal hunting. Conservation is important so that animals lives aren’t threatened and they don’t go extinct. My animal is the Goffin's cockatoo. These birds are near threatened because a lot of people are cutting down trees where they live. It is important to me because it is a unique bird. Unlike normal cockatoos their head feathers can be up or down. They can see colors better than humans.

We can protect animals and their environment by not littering. We can keep plastics out of the ocean. For example, my dad cuts up the plastic rings so that raccoons won’t choke on them or turtles won’t get their feet or their head stuck in them. We can help animals by keeping trees healthy and not cutting them down so they have a place to make a nest.

Conservation

By Teague

Conservation to me  is super important because conserving could save an entire species from extinction. For example the anaconda cobra or the great panda. One way you can help conserve is using reusable straws. Or you can use fishing nets as a beach blanket. People have taken fishing nets and turned them into blankets. Seriously. People have told fisherman to give them all their abandoned fishing nets. In fact people have collected enough nets to go around the world four times.  It basically saves sea animals like seals from getting caught in fishing nets.

THE ANACONDA

The anaconda is a cobra that is losing population because the water that they swim in is very polluted, such as from plastics, straws, and chemicals. Just so you know they only swim in shallow water, so that means that a little water pollution is really harmful. A way we can help with this is to clean up scrap you find on the beach so it doesn't wash into the sea.  

Conservation by Finn

We need to protect animals from going extinct from loss of habitat or other reasons. Humans are cutting down trees all over the world, and there is only 17% of the world not touched by humans, not including water. We are building malls, factories, and lumber mills. 200-100,000 species go extinct every year because of humans. Since the industrial revolution, extinction has grown 1,000 times its natural  rate.

You can help conserve forest dwelling animals like the  Bearded dragon by NOT littering and using a trash can. And staying on the trails. DO NOT burn or break tree branches because animals live in the trees. And DO NOT kill or harm wildlife, it is their world too.We should protect it too.

Help conserve the wildlife around you!   

Conservation

by Lilia

Have you ever seen a wild animal that’s cute, weird, or cool and said, “Can I take it home?” Well I definitely have, but even if it’s cute, weird, or cool, leave it there!!! As a saying I’ve heard from many people, “If you love it, leave it” and it's true!!! If you really love an animal leave it in its natural habitat!! So the next time you see a cool animal don’t take it because you can probably just find a stuffed animal version of it.

When we leave animals in the wild, we are conserving them. Conservation is important because we don’t want to have sloths (or other animals) to become endangered by people taking them and hunting and killing them. Conservation is protecting animals all over the world. We can also help by conserving their habitats. Sloths live in the jungles of Costa Rica and the people are cutting down the forests to use for lumber, so they don’t have a place to live. But you can help by getting involved like funding groups that plant trees in Costa Rica.

Here are some ways that you can conserve:

1. You can try to cut down on paper use is your house by reusing a piece of instead of tacking a new one.
2. If you local grocery store gives out plastic or paper bags you can bring a cloth reusable bag next time.
3. You can also just go out in your neighborhood and pick up trash on beaches or at parks and just in wildlife in general.