This document was developed in response to California Senate Bill No. 885, "The Endangered Species Education Project," that called for a statewide program in which schools adopt a local endangered species, research past and current efforts to preserve the species' habitat, develop and implement an action plan to educate the community about the species, and submit the plan to the California Department of Education for review and awards. The eight sections in this resource guide include: (1) an introduction providing a rationale for specific preservation and environmental protection; (2) a discussion of California's vanishing wildlife; (3) California's endangered species education program competition guidelines: (4) steps on how to adopt a species; (5) a sample adoption plan; (6) lists of endangered, rare and threatened plants and animals by county; (7) lists of resource organizations and agencies to contact for further information, including lists of governmental agencies and state and local organizations involved in species preservation; and (8) an endangered species bibliography containing publications, audio-visual materials, and class activity sources. Six appendices contain endangered species information cards for students, general habitat descriptions, an Adopt-A-Species application form, a sample outline of five lessons for teaching about endangered species, a copy of Senate Bill No. 885, and an Endangered Species Education Program participation response form. (MDH)