What will you 

discover today at 

your national park?

Petrified Forest National Park National Park Service

US Department of the Interior

Join our Junior Ranger Team!

As a Jr. Ranger you help us preserve national parks by:

• Learning about each park and sharing your knowledge with others.

• Setting a good example for other visitors by following the park rules.

• Having fun and safely exploring your national parks.

Placerias
Look for these 

five icons on signs 

throughout the park 

to help you complete 

this booklet.

Everyone: Answer the “How Can You Help?”

 and the “Preservation Takes Teamwork” 

 questions on the last page of the book. 

Are you 6 years old or younger?

 • Complete at least 3 activities.

Are you between 7 and 10 years old? 

 • Complete at least 5 activities.

 

Are you 11 years old or older?

 • Complete at least 7 activities. 

How to become a Junior Ranger at 

Petrified Forest National Park:

Show your answers to a park ranger at the 

Rainbow Forest Museum, Painted Desert 

Inn, or Painted Desert Visitor Center to 

receive your free badge.

Petrified Forest National Park

Education Specialist

PO BOX 2217 

Petrified Forest, AZ 86028

928-524-6228

www.nps.gov/pefo 

pefo_superintendent@nps.gov

You can also mail or 

scan and e-mail your 

booklet back to us to 

receive your badge.

Typothorax
#1 Experience Your America

Think about where you live. What national parks or monuments are near you? 

Why are these places special?

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There are over 400 National Parks and 

Monuments across the United States. 

You will know you are in a National Park 

because you will see this arrowhead symbol.

What is a National Park?

• Where special natural, cultural, and historic 

 places are preserved.

• A place for people to explore and enjoy.

• National park sites have been set aside 

 for “this and future generations”.

What other national parks have you visited?

Write the name of the park on the state where it’s located.
Petrified Forest National Park is home to all kinds of wildlife! 

Keep an eye out for the animals pictured below, or their scat 

and tracks. Look carefully, they may be hard to see. 

Draw a circle around the picture of each animal you spot.

#2 Wildlife Watch

Remember: never feed or disturb 

the wildlife you see in the park.

 Lizards

Snakes

Ravens

Insects

Rabbits/Hares

Prairie Dogs

Coyote

Pronghorn
#3 Archeology Maze

The Puerco River Valley cuts across the middle of Petrified 

Forest National Park. People have been living and traveling 

along this route for thousands of years. Even today the railroad 

and Interstate 40 are aligned with this ancient corridor. 

Help ranger Jamie find her way across the landscape to discover 

a new archeology site.

START

Adamana

Rio Puerco

Santa Fe Railroad

FINISH

Some sites are carefully excavated so 

artifacts and dwellings can be studied.

Other sites, like this great kiva (ceremonial 

room), are only monitored because excavation 

might cause too much damage.
1

4

7

11

5

9

5

6

3

1

2

6

8

7

13

11

12

10

#4 Petrified Forest Crossword

Try this fun crossword puzzle. Look on signs and exhibits for the 

answers. You can even ask a ranger if you get stumped.

Across

1. The man who designed the Painted Desert 

 Visitor Center.

4. Images scratched or picked into stone.

5. The mineral that infiltrated the logs to 

 make them petrified.

6. A large fossil found by paleontologist 

 Annie Alexander. #

7. Artifacts made out of clay.

9. The golden yellow tulip-like wildflower. #

11. The president that created Petrified 

 Forest National Monument in 1906.

12. The NPS employees who wear flat hats in the park.

Down

1. The mineral that causes red and orange colors in 

 petrified wood and the Painted Desert.

2. The building made by homesteader Herbert Lore. @

3. The legendary women who worked in PDI in

 the 1950s. #

4. The fastest land animal that lives in the park.

5. The kind of scientist that studies fossils.

6. The kind of scientist who studies artifacts

 made by humans.

7. The Triassic reptile that closely resembles a crocodile.

8. This road is nicknamed ‘The Mother Road’. #

9. This Triassic creature looks like a huge salamander.

10. The current primary environment of Petrified Forest. 

11. A dog-like omnivore commonly seen in the park.

13. Another name for a pueblo community.

R A N G E R S

 Word Bank

IRON

SILICA

PHYTOSAUR SKULL

POTTERY

MARIPOSA LILY

METOPOSAUR

ROOSEVELT

RANGERS

PETROGLYPHS

 Word Bank

VILLAGE 

ROUTE 66

PHYTOSAUR

GRASSLAND

ARCHEOLOGIST

PAINTED DESERT INN

PRONGHORN

COYOTE

HARVEY GIRLS

PALEONTOLOGIST

Symbol Key: # = two word answer with a space, @ = three word answer with two 

spaces, PDI = Painted Desert Inn
Design your own sign

for the Blue Mesa trail!

What’s the subject?

What question would you answer?

What graphics would you use?

Use the box on the right to draw your

design ideas for the new sign.

#5 Trail Explorer

Get out of the car and on a trail! 

The NPS uses information signs 

along trails to inform visitors 

about their park. Look for these 

signs to help you find answers to 

the questions below.

Painted Desert Rim Trail 

What hooved animals make their home in this section of the park?

Puerco Pueblo

Look for a small stone building with an archeology exhibit inside. What

was this building historically used for?

Crystal Forest

What country today has plants and animals filling the same niches as

those living here during the Triassic?

Long Logs & Agate House

How tall were the petrified trees here when they were still alive?

During what years did people live at Agate House?
#6 Animal Adaptations

At first glance it might seem impossible for plants and animals 

to survive in the park, but look closely and you will see a large 

diversity of living things. These plants and animals have evolved to 

be well adapted to this dry grassland environment.

Match the living organism to the description of its 

adaptation by drawing a line between the two. 

My coloring may be 

different to blend in 

with my surroundings.

I have a thick waxy 

coating to prevent 

water evaporation.

I become dormant in the 

winter and grow new 

shoots in the spring.

I hibernate underground 

until the rainy season so

I don’t dry out.

I don’t have to drink 

water. I get enough 

from the seeds I eat.

I am a colony of 

organisms. I look dead 

when dormant but 

‘blossom’ when it rains. 

I am an opportunistic 

omnivore. I eat what I 

can whenever I can.

Kangaroo Rat 

Coyote

Cryptobiotic Soil

Grass

Lizard

Cactus

Toad
#7 How Old Are These Things?

Corn Cob

The Carbon-14 isotope is used to date organic material that 

is younger than 50,000 years. 

The half-life of Carbon-14 is 5,730 years.

If there is a ratio of 25% radioactive to 75% non-radioactive 

atoms left in the corn cobb, how many half-lives of 

Carbon-14 have passed? _____________________

Triassic phytosaur skull:

Paleontologists can use Uranium to Lead isotopes to measure the age 

of rocks that formed from about 1 million years to over 4.5 billion years 

ago. The half-life of Uranium235 is 704,000,000 years.

This skull is 214,000,000 years old. How 

many more years would it take for the rest 

of one half-life of U235 to pass? _________________

Answers: Corn Cobb - 2 half-lives have passed. 

 Triassic skull - 490,000,000 years.

The two main sciences studied in the park are:

• Paleontology; the study of ancient life through fossils and

• Archeology; the study of human culture through artifacts. 

Both of these sciences ask when events happened or how old objects are. 

Relative dating tells you if one thing is older than another by where it is in the 

geologic layers. (Older rocks are on the bottom and younger rocks are on the 

top.) But how do scientists determine absolute ages?

Some sedimentary rocks and all organic matter contain material called 

radioactive isotopes which decay at constant rates. When half the amount of 

radioactive material in a sample decays, that amount of time is called its halflife. (Another half-life has passed when half of the remaining radioactive atoms 

also decay, and so on.) Scientists can measure the ratio of radioactive atoms to 

non-radioactive atoms in a sample to find its age.
#8 When We Left Home 

In the 1930s, during The Great Depression, the government created 

a public workforce called the Civilian Conservation Corps. Young men 

from many places across the country signed up to be in the ‘3 Cs’. They 

often were sent to parks or towns far away from their familiar city life 

to work, learn a trade, and earn money to support their families. 

Write a story below of how you felt the first time you left home by 

yourself. Where did you go? What kinds of adventures did you have? 

How did you feel when you got there? What did you miss from home? 

If you haven’t been away from home yet just imagine where you would 

want to go and how you would feel.

When I left home __________________________________________

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Where can you see examples of CCC work in the park?

Background Photo - CCC crew at the Painted Desert Inn, 1938

Cottonwood trees planted along The Painted Desert Inn

the Puerco River
#9 No Bones About It 

The geology in the park is made of colorful layers formed by a large 

river system. This geology is named the ____________ Formation.

These small oval shells were homes for ____________ and are just 

one clue that tells us there used to be water here.

Large carnivores like the ______________ and the ____________

have sharp pointy teeth.

The ____________ and ____________ are two ankle bones that 

fit together differently in Coelophysis and Postosuchus. Which of 

these two animals is a dinosaur? ___________________

This animal had a lateral line system and was an ambush predator.

__________________________

The __________________ are nicknamed ‘The Tanks of the

Triassic’. How many different species are found in the park? _____

Paleontology is a dynamic science. As new fossils are discovered the 

information we know about the Triassic story evolves. Compare the 

two large murals in the museum. What do you notice that is different 

or the same about how the Triassic looks?

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Paleontologists are like detectives. They study clues from 

fossils and gather information about past life. Visit inside the 

Rainbow Forest Museum and look for clues in the exhibits to 

fill in the blanks below. You can be a Triassic Detective too!
When you touch a piece of 

petrified wood, how does it feel?

___ smooth ___ hot 

___ rough ___ glassy

___ sharp ___ cold 

Petrified wood is found in many colors, shapes, and sizes. Go on a trail 

(Giant Logs, Long Logs, or Crystal Forest), and look for the colors, shapes, 

and sizes listed below. Put a check mark next to each item or fill in the blank.

Find a giant log you cannot 

wrap your arms around. How 

close are your fingertips from 

touching?________________

Find a petrified log that is longer 

than you are tall. Walk next to the 

log and count your steps.

___________________ steps long

What colors do you see in 

the petrified wood?

 ___ Orange ___ White 

 ___ Pink ___ Yellow 

 ___ Brown ___ Grey

 ___ Purple ___ Black 

 ___ Red ___ Green 

Color this picture of a 

petrified log to look like 

the logs you have seen.

#10 Petrified Wood Detective

Additional ‘Petrifi-questions’...

Where did the minerals making the 

petrified wood come from?

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How did the logs break into pieces?

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Thank you for leaving 

all petrified wood in its 

place so others 

can enjoy it too.

Coelophysis
#11 Even More Spectacular

Giant Logs Trail from inside the Rainbow Forest Museum sunroom, 1934

Petrified Forest National Park was first established as a National Monument 

in 1906. That means everything in the park, especially the petrified wood, 

has been protected for more than 100 years! 

Visit the sites in the historic photos below and compare them to what the 

park looks like now.

What looks different? ________________________________________

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What looks the same?________________________________________

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Back of Rainbow Forest Museum Back side of Crystal Forest trail facing 

North, 1930
#12 Jr. Ranger Field Notes 

We hope you enjoyed your visit to Petrified Forest and had lots of 

memorable experiences while you were here. Use the space below

to write down some notes about your day.

While I was at Petrified Forest National Park...

In the box below draw a picture of 

your favorite thing in the park.

Thank you for helping the National Park 

Service protect our shared heritage for 

this and future generations.

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I heard:

I felt:

I wondered:

I saw:
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How Can You Help?

Why is it important to preserve and protect the rocks, fossils, 

plants and wildlife found within the Petrified Forest National Park? 

Please give at least three reasons.

Preservation Takes Teamwork!

National Parks are special places, where all of nature’s things - 

animals, birds, plants, and rocks - are protected so everyone can 

see and enjoy them. Although the rangers protect the park, we 

need your help too. Please give us your suggestions and tell us 

what you can do to help preserve the National Parks.

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Printed on Recycled Paper
 Date Park Ranger

Explore-Learn-Protect

This Certifies That

has completed the Junior Ranger Program at

Petrified Forest National Park

and is hearby considered an official

Junior Ranger