Green Hands USA: America Volunteers

A new iPad game called Rainforest Survival Challenge can help teach kids how plants and animals survive, and what they can do to help.

The game, created by the non-profit Rainforest Alliance and the Stepping Stone Museum for Children with the help of Ruckus Media, teaches kids (age 4 to 12) which plants and animals work together for long-term survival. Players are dealt five cards, and which they must then swap around and match up in what they think are the best combinations. The game then deals itself five cards and the player and the game compete against each other to see who has the most survivable combination of species.

Each virtual card contains full information about the species at hand, as well as info on the environmental factors which affect them (like logging or poaching).

The winner is determined by which player -- the child or the computer -- has the most surviving species.

"We are excited to use this new and innovative medium to introduce kids to the unique wildlife found in tropical forests," said Rainforest Alliance education program manager Julianne Schrader in a prepared statement. "The Rainforest Alliance helps students of all ages understand the role that each one of us plays in biodiversity conservation. We want to inspire the next generation to conserve the planet’s most precious ecosystems."

Rainforest Survival Challenge is available for $3.99 through the iTunes store. A portion of the proceeds supports education initiatives at the Rainforest Alliance and Stepping Stones Museum for Children.