Bioblitz! - Counting Critters

A young boy and his cousin compete to identify the most different species on a biodiversity count day at a local park

You might be amazed at the large number of insects, birds, and small mammals that inhabit even a very small plot of land. In this story Gabriel''s dad, a ranger for the local municipal park, is helping with a Biodiversity Day (or Bioblitz), and he invites Gabriel and his cousin Ava to participate. With Gabriel''s expertise in bugs and Ava''s eye for birds, the two cousins are eager to start the hunt in the park. They are placed on different teams, competing to see which group finds the most species of animal life in the time allotted.

Readers follow the two teams through a variety of habitats, where they spot dozens of  different species over the course of the day. Kids will enjoy finding all the species (some are hidden in the illustration) that appear on the lists compiled in each habitat. Several different techniques for viewi