The Ten by Ten Project is designed to introduce you boys and girls to the wonderful world around you and to give you an opportunity to participate in scientific activity. For a few of you this may represent your first step leading to a career as a scientist, but for all of you the tasks involved should simply serve as enjoyable challenges. They are much like treasure hunts. Until now you have probably paid little attention to what you found when you ventured outside. "Outside" was simply the place where you waited for the school bus or the place where you played games and sports or the place you passed through on your way somewhere. But "outside" is much more than that and we believe you will enjoy it much more as you identify aspects of this "outdoor" world.
Each of the Ten by Ten books is being developed to challenge you to interact with a particular kind of wildlife in the out-of-doors: birds, trees, summer wildflowers, stars and planets, etc. The individual books offer descriptions of a number of species groups for you to find and identify. Your task is then to find ten or more of those particular groups before or during your tenth year — that is, before your eleventh birthday
Once you meet this challenge for a particular book, you can then register your list at this website, receive a badge and diploma recognizing your achievement, and add your name to the list of those other North American boys and girls who have also met this challenge.
The Ten by Ten Birds volume, has now been published and can be ordered on the Buy Books page. There is also a link at the top of the website for your convenience. Also in the final stages of preparation are the Trees and Insects books. These and other volumes will be available in 2017 through bookstores and libraries.
This website also supplements the individual books in another way. You can use it to share with your fellow achievers any unusual experiences you had while achieving each goal. And if you continue to identify species in a particular group, you can add your totals to the Challenge listing.