Research and Analysis (Part 2): Awareness campaign

By: Gabriela Fernandes - 7

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Create a table and include the following:
a. Formulate at least 5 research questions that you think are the most important to address in your Awareness campaign project.
(E.g. what can I use to engage my audience? What do most people want to know about this issue or concern? How do I make my Campaign available? How do you create
visual effects to catch peoples attention?)
b. Indicate the references you used to gather information. (Important: There should be both primary and secondary sources)
c. Summarize the relevant information you gathered.
d. Discuss the significance of the information to Awareness campaign project.
e. Write a two paragraph design brief (If you are not familiar with writing a design brief, go to: https://myp-tech.wikispaces.com/Design+Brief)
Wild Pandas in Qinling Mountains (Shaanxi province): In China, Pandas are considered a national treasure, there are only about 2,000 pandas left in the wild!
Sample table:
Guide questions for research:
1. What does my
audience think they
can do to help?

Source:
(Include primary and secondary
sources)
Mathur, Karishma. "Panda
Awareness Campaign." Personal
interview. 23 Nov. 2014.
http://www.edgeofexistence.org/
mammals/species_info.php?id=18

Summary of
research Information gathered:

How will the information help

in the Awareness campaign project:

Karishma you can help stop the poaching by helping

the poachers and their families with the basic needs
of life (e.g. education, health care, food etc...) to
ensure that they dont have the need and wanting to
poach pandas! You can also help by not using a lot of
wooden products in order not to promote
deforestation. In addition, we need to all stop the
contamination of nature which will lead to a cleaner
environment for the Pandas to live in! There is really
nothing we can do about the slow reproductive rate,
and the rate of bamboo flowering, because those are
natural characters! We can create a greater protection
over wildlife reserves, to ensure that the pandas live
in a safe and secure environment! We can also create
and provide public education accesses, so the
poachers or all the people who are killing the pandas
dont have the need to kill all the pandas!

Now, I understand what me audience

already know a little about the gradual
extinction of panda bears. I will also use this
information to grab the attention out of my
audience! I can inform them about what
can be done to save these incredible
creatures, and that EVERYONE can do it!
No matter how big, small, short, tall,
young or old you are, EVERYONE can make
a massive difference in the lives of the
pandas!

2. What is causing giant

pandas to lead to
extinction?

http://www.theguardian.com/envi
ronment/2012/nov/12/giantpandas-threatened-climate-change
http://english.cri.cn/725/2006/01/
06/202@41618.htm

3. What are the

necessities of life for a
panda, and are they
being exploited?

http://www.defenders.org/panda/
basic-facts

4. Which roles do panda

bears play in their
ecosystem and
around the world?

http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_d
o/endangered_species/giant_pand
a/panda/why_we_save_the_giant_
panda/

Global warming - wiping out a lot of the bamboo (food

for pandas) = panda starving
Poaching - pandas = killed to exhibit in zoos, and their
fur = illegally sold.
Habitat destruction - deforestation. They are being
forced to move to high mountains (because of ever
growing population in China) = isolating them into
discrete groups. In 2 years, panda habitat = decreased
by 50%.
Reproduction rate = very slow of a panda, because
they are HIGHLY selective over mates, multiple year
gaps between giving birth, mortality rate = very high,
and the pandas period for mating is very short!
Bamboo flowering (the process of bamboos producing
seedlings for the next generation) only happens every
30 80 years. After bamboo flowering, bamboo dies =
death of pandas face starvation!
Giant Pandas = good tree climbers and good
swimmers (= they need trees and water to escape
predators). Trees are being chopped (deforestation)
for wood. Water supplies are decreasing! If there is no
trees and water, the pandas have no way to escape
from predators! They need bamboo, and sometimes
flowers, vines, turfed grasses (to eat). Bamboo forests
and other forests where pandas live (Shaanxi
province) are facing deforestation at huge rates =
pandas are dying from starvation! Water is also
needed by pandas to drink. Because of the water
supply on earth are decreasing, the pandas are having
a much smaller supply of water!
Firstly, Pandas are one of the strongest symbols for
nature conservation, therefore, we are helping
preserve the whole worlds conservation that need to
be there in order for pandas to survive. Pandas also
play a key role in the bamboo forest - they help the
bamboo flowering and the growth of vegetation!
Yes of course, panda bears play the largest role in the
creatures it eats and to the creatures that eat it - the

With this information, I will let the audience

know what is killing these creatures, and
maybe the people who are contributing in
the killing of pandas may stop! Some dont
know that what they are doing is killing
pandas, for example; everyone buys
wooden and bamboo materials, but most
people have no idea that what they are
buying is increasing the risk of pandas
becoming extinct! I need to let people know
what they are doing wrong, so that we can
all help stop the killing of pandas!

Here, I will inform especially the community

around the area where pandas inhabit,
about what pandas need to have in order to
survive on their own in the wild! The
communities living around the bamboo
forests dont know anything about what
they need to and cannot remove from the
environment/ ecosystem where pandas
live! Some elements in nature can be
harmful to the pandas! The people need to
know what they are doing wrong in terms
of deforestation!
With this information I can provide valuable
and trustworthy information on what the
great creatures do to benefit their
environment! I will explain that without
pandas, the entire community of organisms
living around the panda bears will be
endangered! Kill one and the entire
environment is destroyed!

5. If pandas become
extinct, what would
happen to the world?

In my opinion. My interpretation of
what is written above...

rest of the animals and organisms in the panda bears

food chain! For example; firstly, without pandas, the
bears food will surplus as nothing is eating it and
causing it to die! The bamboo forests will become
overgrown to a point where everything will probably
end up dying! Secondly, without pandas, the bears
predators will die because they wouldnt have food!
The entire food chain where the panda bears fit in will
completely fall apart and in the end, everything in the
pandas chain would have died out!
From what I wrote above, I think that once pandas
become extinct, the earths strongest symbol for
nature conservation will fall apart, and there wouldnt
be that conservation for the rest of the animals that
are linked to pandas! Also, the bamboo forests would
no longer be able to produce the process of flowering,
and the forests will be destroyed because the bamboo
trees would have no source to transfer the seedlings
and produce new trees. Without bamboo, all the
other animals who were also feeding on them would
banish, as there would be no shelter, food and
protection of the forest! Mainly, all the animals in the
rest of the food chain of the panda would die out, and
the animals that are in the food chains of the animals
that died out would also be gone, and they wouldnt
have food! The entire ecosystem of the panda bears
would be destroyed, and it would be almost
impossible to regain the strength of the forest!

http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/GiantPandas/PandaFacts/

2. Write the design brief:

a. In 1 paragraph, summarize your analysis of the significance of the research you conducted.
b. In 1 paragraph, write your project proposal:
What are you making? (Brief description of your proposed product/solution)
Who will benefit from your proposed product/solution? (Target audience/users)
How useful is your proposed product/solution? (Purpose of the product/solution)

I can conclude with my opinion on what will

happen to the world without pandas! I will
need to inform them about how their lives
could very well be threatened if there was
the extinction of pandas! People need to
understand that by killing one panda, they
are basically killing the entire ecosystem
around the pandas!

2. Write the design brief:

a. Well from all of the information that I have gathered I have learned new things along the way! Firstly, global warming is one of the main topics that are causing pandas to
lead to extinction! It is wiping out most of the bamboo forests, which is causing the pandas to die of starvation! Deforestation and poaching are among the three factors
that are leading pandas to extinction. These are the only three main factors that we all can help prevent! The others all come naturally which is a problem! The next thing
that is causing pandas to lead to extinction is the fact that they are extremely selective over mates, their reproductive rate is very slow, their mortality rate is extremely
high, and there are several year gaps between mother pandas to give birth! The final factor that is causing the population of pandas to decrease is the fact that the bamboo
flowing takes place only once every 30 - 80 years!
Secondly, pandas need certain things like all living creatures to survive alone in the wild such as; water are trees! They use these two elements especially to escape from
predators! Without them, pandas become vulnerable and an easy target. Trees are being chopped (deforestation) for wood. This means that the pandas have no living
space or a place to escape to in the presence of a predator! Water levels are decreasing! Pandas end up dehydrating as well! With the deforestation of bamboo forests,
pandas have no food, and they then starve to death!
Pandas play a KEY role in the environment they live in, especially according to the food chain! Without pandas, there is a surplus of bamboo, and without them bamboos
cant germinate seedlings! Pandas are one of the MOST important living things in the bamboo forests, and we are killing them at a rate that is getting out of hand! There are
only about 2,000 pandas on earth living in the wild!
From the interview with Karishma Mathur, she says that you can help stop the poaching by helping the poachers and their families with the basic needs of life (e.g.
education, health care, food etc...) to ensure that they dont have the need and wanting to poach pandas! You can also help by not using a lot of wooden products in order
not to promote deforestation. In addition, we need to all stop the contamination of nature which will lead to a cleaner environment for the Pandas to live in! We can create
a greater protection over wildlife reserves, to ensure that the pandas live in a safe and secure environment!
b. My Project Proposal:
Well, I am going to be creating an informative poster awareness campaign on the gradual leading to extinction of giant pandas in the wild! These creatures dont deserve all
that we are giving them! They have done nothing to us, but show their majestic beauty! There is absolutely no need for humans to be killing them, to exhibit in zoos etc...
My posters slogan is going to be something like by killing one, you are killing the entire ecosystem! I want people to know that whatever they are doing is wrong and
considered as animal cruelty! Its not just the fact that we are killing them; its the fact that we are ruining their environment!
The target audience for my awareness campaign is targeted at adults who buy and sell bamboo and wooden products which contribute to the deforestation of the
environment where pandas live! My campaign is in another way targeted to everyone, as everyone is producing ad contaminating the earth with pollution! Because of our
leisures, creatures are getting killed for absolutely no reason! Everyone needs to understand that we are killing animals 1,000s of km away from us, just so that we can
have ONE special wooden product! Its not fair to them!
The purpose of my final product is to make people aware of all the pollution and disturbances we are creating towards the natural environment. I want people to
understand that they are not the only things living on earth! Pandas respect us greatly, and in return we treat them like they have no purpose on earth! I want to change
peoples perspectives on how the world works, and how can help the natural environment greatly!