Earth Rangers
Encyclopedia
Royal Ontario Museum
The Royal Ontario Museum is a museum of world culture and natural history in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. With its main entrance facing Bloor Street in Downtown Toronto, the museum is situated north of Queen's Park and east of Philosopher's Walk in the University of Toronto...
and online, offering a positive and engaging experience for children and their families.
Programs
Earth Rangers’ programs promote environmental awareness, educating the public on the causes and effects of biodiversityBiodiversity
Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or an entire planet. Biodiversity is a measure of the health of ecosystems. Biodiversity is in part a function of climate. In terrestrial habitats, tropical regions are typically rich whereas polar regions...
loss. Every year, their programs reach hundreds of thousands of children through a live animal show as well as connecting with 60, 000 Earth Ranger members online. In April 2010, Earth Rangers launched Bring Back the Wild™, in collaboration with the Nature Conservancy of Canada
Nature Conservancy of Canada
Nature Conservancy of Canada is a Canadian private not-for-profit charitable environmental organisation established in 1962. The NCC works to achieve the direct protection of what they deem as Canada's most important natural treasures through property securement and long-term stewardship of...
. Bring Back the Wild™ is a national campaign that educates children about biodiversity and inspires them to fundraise to help protect endangered species and their habitats.
In School
Earth Rangers’ school program offers an integrated education and action program all about biodiversity. The program introduces students to live animal ambassadors and offers in-class activities and curriculumCurriculum
See also Syllabus.In formal education, a curriculum is the set of courses, and their content, offered at a school or university. As an idea, curriculum stems from the Latin word for race course, referring to the course of deeds and experiences through which children grow to become mature adults...
pieces, such as the bio-circle race. Teachers can also engage their students to take action through Earth Rangers’ Bring Back the Wild™ program.
In the Community
The public can also see Earth Rangers’ shows at the Royal Ontario MuseumRoyal Ontario Museum
The Royal Ontario Museum is a museum of world culture and natural history in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. With its main entrance facing Bloor Street in Downtown Toronto, the museum is situated north of Queen's Park and east of Philosopher's Walk in the University of Toronto...
(ROM). The ROM ’s Life in Crisis Shad Gallery of Biodiversity focuses on engaging families in the relationship between nature and humanity. This theme is echoed in the Earth Rangers’ studio where visitors can meet live Animal Ambassadors and see video of some of the planet’s most amazing habitats and creatures. Earth Rangers also hosts events in the community; past locations have included Ontario Place and The Royal Winter Fair. These community events spread awareness about the crisis of biodiversity loss as well as work to empower the public to take action through making environmentally conscious life choices and by supporting the Bring Back the Wild™ initiative. Kids across Canada are also exposed to Earth Rangers’ programs through public service announcements that play on the Corus Network, such as on the channel YTV.
Online
EarthRangers.com offers eco-themed games, a blogBlog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
for kids called the Wild Wire, avatar
Avatar (computing)
In computing, an avatar is the graphical representation of the user or the user's alter ego or character. It may take either a three-dimensional form, as in games or virtual worlds, or a two-dimensional form as an icon in Internet forums and other online communities. It can also refer to a text...
items and an online take action piece called Bring Back the Wild™. EarthRangers.com also hosts contests where members of the public can win prizes. Previous giveaways have included the Bring Back the Wild™ Contest which was developed in partnership with YTV and saw a family of 4 take a trip of a life time to British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
.
Animal Ambassadors
Canadian Association of Zoos and Aquariums
-External links:*...
(CAZA) and Association of Zoos and Aquariums
Association of Zoos and Aquariums
The Association of Zoos and Aquariums was founded in 1924 and is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of zoos and public aquariums in the areas of conservation, education, science, and recreation.The AZA headquarters is located in Silver...
(AZA) standards. These Animal Ambassadors along with their trainers and care takers are integral members of the Earth Rangers team. They are a critical part of Earth Rangers’ presentations in schools, at the Royal Ontario Museum
Royal Ontario Museum
The Royal Ontario Museum is a museum of world culture and natural history in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. With its main entrance facing Bloor Street in Downtown Toronto, the museum is situated north of Queen's Park and east of Philosopher's Walk in the University of Toronto...
and in the community as they connect audiences with the crisis facing our natural world. Animal Ambassadors include Sammy the Serval, Koho the Bald Eagle
Bald Eagle
The Bald Eagle is a bird of prey found in North America. It is the national bird and symbol of the United States of America. This sea eagle has two known sub-species and forms a species pair with the White-tailed Eagle...
, Cosmo the Ring-Tailed Lemur
Ring-tailed Lemur
The ring-tailed lemur is a large strepsirrhine primate and the most recognized lemur due to its long, black and white ringed tail. It belongs to Lemuridae, one of five lemur families. It is the only member of the Lemur genus. Like all lemurs it is endemic to the island of Madagascar...
, Timber the Pine-Martin, Dora the Tegu, Shelly the Midland Painted Turtle, Shriek the Red Tailed Hawk, Floyd the Ball Python
Ball python
Python regius is a nonvenomous python species found in Africa. This is the smallest of the African pythons and is popular in the pet trade. No subspecies are currently recognized. They are also known as royal pythons or ball pythons. The name ball python refers to the animal's tendency to curl into...
, Yeti the Snow Owl, Sonic the Barn Owl
Barn Owl
The Barn Owl is the most widely distributed species of owl, and one of the most widespread of all birds. It is also referred to as Common Barn Owl, to distinguish it from other species in the barn-owl family Tytonidae. These form one of two main lineages of living owls, the other being the typical...
and Fantom the Pine Snake
Pine snake
Pine snake may refer to:* Pituophis melanoleucus, a harmless colubrid found in North America.* Lampropeltis g. getula, a.k.a. the eastern kingsnake, a harmless colubrid found in the eastern United States....
.
Building
The Earth Rangers Centre is an advanced green building, certified Gold under Leadership in Energy and Environmental DesignLeadership in Energy and Environmental Design
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design consists of a suite of rating systems for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings, homes and neighborhoods....
(LEED) for New Construction. The facility is located on the Kortright Living City Campus in Woodbridge
Woodbridge
Woodbridge is the name of various places around the world:In Australia:*Woodbridge, Western Australia formerly called West Midland.*Woodbridge, Tasmania.In Canada:*Woodbridge, OntarioIn the United Kingdom:*Woodbridge, Suffolk, the location of...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and is home to the Earth Rangers’ Animal Ambassadors and staff. The Centre is a showcase of cutting edge building technology such as energy metering, smart automation and controls, innovative water and wastewater management, solar generation, green roofs, and geothermal heating
Geothermal heating
Geothermal heating is the direct use of geothermal energy for heating applications. Humans have taken advantage of geothermal heat this way since the Paleolithic era. Approximately seventy countries made direct use of a total of 270 PJ of geothermal heating in 2004...
and cooling.
Ventiliation
The Earth Rangers Centre was one of the first buildings in Canada to use displacement ventilationDisplacement ventilation
Displacement ventilation is an room air distribution strategy where conditioned outdoor air is supplied at floor level and extracted above the occupied zone, usually at ceiling height.- System design :...
and has the largest installation of earth tubes in North America. This ventilation system circulates air through diffusers located near the floor level and displaces the existing air into return ducts near the ceiling.
Data Centre
The Earth Rangers’ 9.3 square metre (100 ft2) Data CentreData center
A data center is a facility used to house computer systems and associated components, such as telecommunications and storage systems...
was completed in December 2008. The data room uses storage servers from Pillar, Dell’s processing servers
Server (computing)
In the context of client-server architecture, a server is a computer program running to serve the requests of other programs, the "clients". Thus, the "server" performs some computational task on behalf of "clients"...
and virtual personal machines using VMware’s View software. Nortel’s Power over Ethernet (PoE) switching facilitates the transfer of electrical power and data across the infrastructure. Earth Rangers also participates in Compugen’s Green4Good program which works to combat the environmental impact of end-of-life technology products and support charities in need.
Solar Electricity
The Earth Rangers Centre has two Solar Photovoltaic (PV) arrays in operation; both convert the sun’s rays into a standard voltage to be used by the building’s systems. In the Earth Rangers Centre parking lot there is a 57.6kWp dual-axis tracking array on six separate posts consisting of 54 Solgate 175W panels, provided by Sentinel Power Systems. Each array follows the sun from east to west during the day, increasing output by up to 30 per cent over a fixed panel. Each panel has its own Enphase micro-inverter, further increasing the efficiency of the arrays, and allowing real-time monitoring of the system on panel by panel basis. The second array is located on the aviary this building boasts a 28.08kWp, Designed and installed by Enviro-Energy Technologies Inc, it offsets approximately 10 per cent of the Earth Rangers Centre’s annual needs.Heating and Cooling
The Earth Rangers Centre was one of the first 100 per cent radiant heated and cooled buildings in North America. The building uses 22 kilometers of REHAU radiant tubing, which was laid within the concrete floors and ceiling. The flow of a non-toxic, vegetable-based liquid (water/glycol) through these tubes causes the concrete to become thermally activated. In the warm seasons, cooled liquid is supplied to the concrete slabs. The heat from the computers, people and the sun is absorbed by the concrete, causing the cooled liquid in the tubing to warm up. The liquid is then cooled by rejecting heat to the ground source system or free cooled by directly coupling to our cooling tower. In the colder months, the glycol is warmed by the ground source heat pump before it is supplied to the slab system.Awards
Interactive Media Awards- 2010, Best in Class Animals/WildlifeSNW’s Best Practices Award- Spring 2010, green computing, energy efficiency and the data centre.
Canada Green Building Council- 2006, LEED® Gold
Ontario Concrete Association- 2005, Sustainable Concrete Construction Award
General Electric-2006, global Ecomagination Leadership Award
External links
- EarthRangers.com - Children’s Website
- EarthRangers.org - Organization’s Website
- Facebook - official website
- YouTube