White Sands National Park Service

U.S. Department of the Interior

White Sands National Park

NPS

I 3

WHSA!

Junior Dunes Ranger Activity Book
Hi!

Kit Fox: Ages 6-8 

Jackrabbit: Ages 9-12

Bobcat: Ages 13 and up

Welcome to White Sands, friends! My 

name is Riley, and I am excited to share my 

favorite place with you today. We are going 

to have a great adventure exploring and 

learning about White Sands, the world’s 

largest gypsum dunefield. My book has 

activities that are especially made for you 

depending on your age. 

Become a Junior Dunes Ranger!

Parents: This is a family program. Feel free to help your aspiring Junior 

Ranger. We hope that your whole family learns about the park. 

Are you on a tight timeline and can’t return your book today? Not a problem. Mail 

in your book to the address below and a ranger will take a look at it. 

Address: White Sands NP, PO Box 1086, Holloman AFB, NM 88330.

When you are finished with your activities, please return your book to a 

park ranger in the visitor center to be sworn in as an official White Sands 

Junior Dunes Ranger! If you have any questions, please ask a park ranger. 

Let’s explore White Sands!
Recording Your Memories

As you explore White Sands, write or draw something in the journal 

below that you will want to remember about your visit today.

3
Having Fun and Being Safe Leave No Trace

Safety Tip!

Lightning can 

strike up to ten 

miles away from 

a storm. When 

thunder roars, 

go indoors!

4
Riley loves being outside and having fun! She knows the best way to enjoy 

White Sands is to follow a few safety tips. Find and circle all the safe ways 

Riley and her friends are enjoying the dunes in the image below. 

Riley’s safety tips:

5

Drink lots of water

Throw away trash in a trash can

Wear a hat, sunscreen, & sunglasses

Be prepared for your hike

Keep pets on a leash

Hike with a friend
Solving Riley’s Riddles

My blood is cold, my rattle bold

If I’m in sight, stay clear! I bite!

But worry not; the taste I’ve got

Is for eggs, small birds, and mice.

Who am I? 

Eight legs have I, eight eyes to spy,

A trail my spinner leaves.

My fangs are meek, and only seek

To munch bugs smaller than me.

Who am I? 

My ears are pointy, tipped with black;

For my short tail I’m named.

I leave no claw marks in my track;

As a stealthy hunter I’m famed.

Who am I? 

By day I sleep, by night I creep

To gather my favorite seeds.

I blend in at night to avoid any fights –

White fur makes me hard to see!

Who am I? 

White I am not, so I’m easy to spot

As I crawl along the sand.

Stink I have plenty, so don’t try to pet me!

Respect I must command.

Who am I? 

My beak is long, it’s very strong,

Just ask the food I eat.

I can fly up in the sky,

And run fast on my feet

Who am I? 

Riley wrote a few riddles about her friends. Use the pictures below to help 

solve Riley’s riddles. Fill in the blank with the number of the animal below 

that matches the riddle.

1. Western Diamondback Rattlesnake 2. Bobcat 3. Greater Roadrunner

4. Darkling Beetle 5. Apache Pocket Mouse 6. Tarantula

6
Be a Park Ranger

Riley has a lot of park ranger friends, and each one of them has a different 

reasons why they decided to become a park ranger. 

Riley knows she is in a national park when she sees the National Park Service 

arrowhead. Have you seen an arrowhead? If not, look around the visitor 

center or on the front cover of this book. 

7

What does being a park ranger mean to you? Write you respose below.

Each of the pictures in the arrowhead, like the mountain, mean something 

important. Draw your favorite part of the arrowhead below. Why did you 

choose to draw that item? Write your response next to the arrowhead. 
Dining in the Desert

Unscramble the letters to fill in the blanks with the correct word. Use the 

word bank on the right if you need help. 

Soil, _________________, (aibctera) and fungi capture nitrogen from the air 

and make it ________________ (busela) for plants. Otherwise, most desert 

plants could not grow.

Plants like the _______________ (uyacc) and ________________ (nidain) rice 

grass provide food and shelter for moths, ants, ______________ (orgaknoa)

rats, Apache _________________ (oktpce) mice, and other animals. These 

plants are called ________________ (rmpiyar) producers because all life on 

the dunes _________________ (pnededs) on them.

Spiders, _________________ (cropsonsi), and lizards eat insects.

Badgers, _________________ (eyscoto), kit foxes, and snakes eat mice and 

other _______________ (stderon).

A food chain shows how each living thing gets its food. Some animals eat 

plants, and some animals eat other animals. Plants are called producers

because they combine sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide in a process 

called photosynthesis. Through photosynthesis, plants produce oxygen and 

carbohydrates—a simple sugar (food). Animals cannot make their own food 

so they must eat plants and/or other animals. They are called consumers. 

Consumers come in three tiers, primary, secondary, and tertiary. Primary 

consumers eat only plants (herbivore). Secondary consumers can eat both 

plants and other animals (omnivore). Tertiary consumers eat only other 

animals (carnivore). Then there are decomposers (bacteria and fungi) that 

feed on decaying matter. 

8
What would happen to the badger population if the 

pocket mouse and kangaroo rat caught a disease and 

many of them died?

Word Bank:

usable

yucca

bacteria

rodents

scorpions

coyotes

pocket

depends

primary

indian

kangaroo

Fungi Cyanobacteria

Indian Rice Grass Soaptree Yucca

Kangaroo Rat Apache Pocket Mouse

Western Diamondback 

Rattlesnake

American Badger

Darkling Beetle

Skunk Bush Sumac

Black Tail Jackrabbit

Loggerhead Shrike

9

Tertiary Consumers

Secondary Consumers

Primary Consumers

Producers

Decomposers
Draw a selenite crystal Draw coarse sand Draw fine sand

Riley has a question for you. Where did all this gypsum sand come from? 

This activity will help you answer Riley’s question. 

Transforming Rock into Sand and Dunes

10

Take a look at the exhibits in the museum and label the three white arrows on 

the map below as either water or wind. 
Looking at a map of Dunes Drive below, label the map using the 

numbers next to the words below. 

N

Word Bank:

1.Playa Trail 2.Interdune Boardwalk 3.Dune Life Nature Trail

4.Alkali Flat Trail 5.Amphitheater 6.Backcountry Trail

11
Walk With Giants

12

20,000 years ago, camels, lions, giant ground sloths, and mammoths called 

this place home. These animals are extinct, but they left their footprints 

behind in the gypsum. 

Draw a line from the animal on the left to its’ track on the right. 

This massive creature could 

weigh as much as a semitruck. Its tusks could be up 

to 16 feet long. It fed on 

grasses, shrubs, and some 

trees.

Related to modern sloths, 

armadillos, or anteaters; 

this strange mammal could 

be 10 feet tall and weigh 

over a ton.

This carnivore was even 

bigger than modern African 

lions. With its long legs, 

it may have run up to 30 

miles per hour.

This predator was once 

one of the most common 

predators in North and 

South America. It preyed on 

ancient sloths, camels, and 

even horses.

This animal probably 

looked like its modern 

one humped cousin, but 

with longer legs. It stood 

up to seven feet tall at the 

shoulder.

Harlan’s Ground Sloth

Dire Wolf

Ancient Camel

Columbian Mammoth

American Lion
13

The Harlan’s ground sloth was a powerful animal, with strong jaws, long 

claws, and bone plates under its skin that worked like armor. Preserved 

footprints tell us that 11,000 years ago humans hunted these giants. 

Mark your height on the ruler on the left and then draw a picture of 

yourself at that height next to the giant sloth. 

Take a walk in the sand. Look at the footprint you made. How long do 

you think your footprints will remain?

Measuring Up
Exploring the Soaptree Yucca

The yucca has beautiful white flowers that bloom after it rains. The 

flowers can be eaten.

The flowers grow on flower stalks that move water through the plant. 

These stalks can be used as walking sticks.

The leaves of the yucca are called bayonet leaves because they are so 

sharp and pointy. The sharp tips can be used as needles.

The yucca produces thousands of seeds that provide food for mice and 

other rodents. Humans can also use the seeds to make a black dye.

The taproot finds water in the gypsum to keep the plant alive. The root 

can be used like a potato but make sure to remove the toxic skin.

14

One of the most common plants at White Sands is the soaptree yucca. This 

yucca is one of only four plants that can grow on the moving dunes. The 

plant is able to do this because of its ability to grow through the dunes as 

they move. The other amazing thing about the soaptree yucca is that every 

part of the plant can be used in some way.

Riley wrote several interesting facts about the soaptree yucca below. Use 

the words in bold to fill in the boxes to the right.

Did you Know?

Another cool part of the soaptree is 

how the plant is pollinated. Yuccas 

of all types are pollinated by yucca 

moths. These moths blend in to the 

coloring of the flower so they can be 

difficult to see. 
Moths and butterflies are 

in the same order of insect 

(Lepidoptera). Butterflies are 

a specialized group of moths 

that fly during the day. 

15

Did you Know?
Holding the Dunes Together

One of Riley’s safety tips is to drink plenty of water. Water is just as 

important for the dunes as it is for us. Without water, the dunes would 

blow away. Water is the glue that holds the dunes in place. Throughout a 

calendar year the water goes through all steps of the water cycle.

Look at the diagram below. It shows the four major steps of the water 

cycle. Label each process in the water cycle using the numbers next to the 

words and then circle one or more of the processes that you observe in 

the dunefield. 

Word Bank: 1.collection 2.precipitation

3.evaporation 4.condensation

16

Precipitation - Rain or snow coming down from clouds.

Evaporation - When puddles on the ground disappear as the sun heats up the water.

Collection - Water that pools in low lying areas.

Condensation - As water evaporates, the moisture condenses and forms clouds in the sky. 
Did you Know?

This illustration 

shows us that 

two feet below the 

surface, in a low 

area, you will find 

our water table, 

which is very 

unusual for a desert. 

When you are in the dunes, do the following actions and 

answer the questions below.

Touch the sand on the surface. What did it feel like? Was it hot or 

cold? 

17

Dig down a few inches in the sand. What is the difference between 

the top of the sand and down a few inches? What do you think 

makes this difference? 
Nature and Geology Checklist

Mammals Reptiles Geology

This is a checklist of some of Riley’s favorite things. As you visit the park, 

check off any of them that you find. Some of the critters only come out at 

night so don’t be discouraged if you can’t find them all. 

Coyote American Badger

Apache Pocket Mouse

Kangaroo Rat

Blacktail Jackrabbit

Kit Fox

Gopher 

Snake

Bleached Earless 

Lizard

Little Striped Whiptail

Western

Diamondback 

Rattlesnake

Gypsum Rock

Selenite 

Crystal Sand Plant Pedestal

18
Birds Insects Plants

Did you see something that’s not on the list? Draw or 

describe it in the space below. Ask a ranger if they can 

help identify it.

Barn Swallow

Greater

Roadrunner

Loggerhead 

Shrike

Raven

Tarantula Hawk Wasp

Tarantula

Darkling Beetle Scorpion

Soaptree 

Yucca

Indian Rice Grass

Cottonwood 

Tree Leaf

Skunk Bush Sumac

19
I am proud to be a Junior Ranger at 

White Sands National Park. I will continue to learn 

about nature, and all people, so we can work 

together to protect our national parks and the 

places we live.

Certificate of Achievement

This certifies that

has met the requirements of a 

White Sands Junior Dunes Ranger.

Ranger Signature

Junior Ranger Pledge