The PA Center for Environmental Education released a new online resource – Critter Quest PA -- to help educators and students understand and appreciate Pennsylvania’s rich natural wildlife heritage.

Critter Quest PA was developed to help Pennsylvanians better understand and appreciate the natural diversity utilizing the latest GIS software to create an interactive, online mapping experience for users.

This tool uses data sets such as layers showing the state’s rivers, watersheds, land cover and cities that can be overlaid by files showing the predicted habitat of the 468 mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish native to Pennsylvania.

The user literally selects the information that he wants to see displayed on his computer screen. Each new map is generated automatically by the online software, allowing the user to explore a seemingly endless variety of information in pursuit of an endless variety of questions:

Where can I find a bobcat or a mink or a flying squirrel? What’s the relationship between human population density and the density of an endangered species? And (everybody’s favorite question) what might be living in my own backyard?

The website is targeted for middle school students, children and adults alike will enjoy using this educational and fascinating resource to help Pennsylvania’s wildlife resources come alive.

Critter Quest PA was funded by a grant by the Wild Resource Conservation Program and developed by the Pennsylvania Center for Environmental Education.

NewsClip: Schools Introduce Students To Mother Nature On A One-On-One Basis

9/5/2008