Junior Ranger Challenge -- Make a Trading Card

Hello Ranger-in-Training,

One of the tools we use as park rangers are trading cards. Maybe you've seen a trading card - it fits in your pocket and usually it has a picture on one side and words on the other. Look at the pictures below. Pretty cool, right?

 

 

I use trading cards to tell stories. See the picture of George Washington on that white horse? The horse's name was Blueskin and he was General Washington's second favorite horse. His first favorite horse was named Nelson. Nelson was very steady in battle. Blueskin - not so much. But, Blueskin looked good in the picture.

Now it is your turn to make something you can use to tell a few stories about a famous writer named Edgar Allan Poe.

Your friend,
Ranger Renee

 

Your challenge: Design a trading card about Edgar Allan Poe

Directions

1. Read the information below about the famous writer named Edgar Allan Poe.
2. On a piece of paper, draw a picture that would be good for the front of a trading card about Edgar Allan Poe. It can be a picture of Poe, or maybe you want to draw something connected to his stories.
3. Turn your paper over and choose what information you want to put on the back of your card. You can't write any more than 50 words (yes, you have to count them).

Looking for ideas? Check out some examples in the Junior Ranger Challenge Photo Gallery.

 

Edgar Allan Poe's Life

Read the facts below and choose which ones you want to write on the back of your trading card.

• Born on January 19, 1809 (same year as Abraham Lincoln)
• Born in Boston, Massachusetts
• His parents died when he was little
• He was adopted by John and Frances Allan
• Famous for writing scary stories, detective stories, science fiction stories, and poems
• Some of his famous stories include "The Black Cat," "The Gold Bug," and "The Tell-Tale Heart"
• Some of his famous poems include "The Raven," "A Dream Within a Dream," and "Annabel Lee"
• He lived in Philadelphia for six years with his wife and mother-in-law
• His wife was named Virginia. She was sick for several years and died when she was 24.
• His mother-in-law was named Maria, but he called her “Muddy”
• They had a calico cat named Catterina
• Died on October 7, 1849
• Died in Baltimore, Maryland
• No one knows why he died

 

BONUS! Design a card about YOU

1. On a piece of paper, draw a picture that is about you. It can be a self-portrait, or it can be something that tells us about you (like a soccer ball, or a TV, or a book).
2. Turn your paper over and choose what information you want to write on the back of your card. It can be about your family or what you like to do -- what makes you unique. You can't write any more than 50 words (yes, you have to count them).