If it wasn’t obvious by the giant
otter tattoo on my arm, I love otters. So I decided to find an article about
sea otters and found a pretty interesting one! The article is titled “Changes
in sea urchins and kelp following a reduction in se otter density as a result
of the Exxon Valdez oil spill” by Dean, Bodkin, Jewett, Monson, and Jung.
The article
introduces sea otters as a keystone species that have well known interactions
with sea urchins and kelp. Sea otters eat sea urchins, and the reduced space
taken up by the sea urchins gives the kelp more room to grow. This article
studies the effect of the reduced otter population in Prince William Sound,
Alaska after the Exxon Valdez oil spill by comparing the sea urchin populations
in the heavily oiled parts to those in an unoiled part of the sound.
The oil
spill killed around 1000-2800 sea otters and in some places up to 90% of the
otters in that area were oiled (Dean et al.) There was also no detectable
reduction in density of sea urchins as a direct result of the oil spill (Dean
et al.) They list methods of describing and measuring each species’ density and
compare two islands’ density – one affected by the spill greatly and one not
greatly affected. Trying to understand the effect of limited keystone predator,
most studies research one extreme or the other (with or without the predator)
but this study figures out what happens in that transition state from low to
high abundance or vice versa. Overall –
they did not observe a substantial increase in sea urchins after the reduction
of otters, but the otter population has remained low and they can’t rule out
that they may be observing a long lag in response instead of a lack of
response. (Dean et al.)
For my
younger audience, I was thinking of doing a children’s picture book on the
importance of being environmentally aware. I wanted to make the main character
an otter and have him describe how the oil spill made all of his friends sick
so they had to stay home from playing in the ocean. I’m considering tying in
the article by saying how the otter friends leaving means the bully sea urchins
take over the playground (the intertidal zone) and kick out the kelp that are
the otter’s friends too. I want to keep it pretty short and aim it towards kids
around 4-8 to teach them the importance of preserving nature (and that oil
spills are really bad). What do you guys think of this? Is it too far off of
the article or not creative enough?
For the older audience, I was considering a news article that tells the story of two major corporations and a local small business. I wanted the original major corporation to be the otters who supported the local small business, which would be the kelp. Then, after the oil spill, the otters go bankrupt and the local town is taken over by the “Wal-Mart” type company of the sea urchins who don’t support the local business and drive them out of town.
For the older audience, I was considering a news article that tells the story of two major corporations and a local small business. I wanted the original major corporation to be the otters who supported the local small business, which would be the kelp. Then, after the oil spill, the otters go bankrupt and the local town is taken over by the “Wal-Mart” type company of the sea urchins who don’t support the local business and drive them out of town.
I definitely want to refine my ideas a bit more and
want to make this sound really realistic so if anyone has any pointers, let me
know! I just figured out what I wanted to do at 9:40 at night after thinking about it all day, so I want to sit on my ideas for the rest of the night and come back to them tomorrow afternoon. AKA if this sounds like total shit and not creative enough, Zack- don't worry I might agree with you tomorrow! Thanks in advance for any advice and comments :)
The idea for the childrens book is super cute and as someone who is also in love with sea otters I can't wait to see how you execute this idea! Do you plan to draw the pictures out yourself or take some from the internet? This is my major concern as drawing all of this could take you quite a bit of time. Otherwise the idea of teaching children the importance of the environment and sea otters is great in itself and creative (so don't worry about zack ). The one for the older audience seems a bit confusing to me, what is your target age group? Is this going to be one article or a series of articles? I could see it being either just as long as you include everything you mentioned above. You could simplify it from a story article to more of an informational piece on what has changed in the city these businesses are in more in a sense of what corporations are taking the lead and what has caused it, this would put an interesting spin on the news article while still including the aspects you wanted, but again just an idea! Super creative and I look forward to seeing your project :)
ReplyDeletePike,
ReplyDeleteOne of my first thoughts—and this might be a ridiculous question, but I wanna ask it anyways: is the scholarly piece’s “essence” really on “environmental awareness”? To me, that suggests that if the Exxon Valdez folks had more “environmental awareness”, this whole oil spill could’ve/would’ve been avoided, but… is that the case?
On the same front, if a child were to read a story about how an oil spill killed so many otters (and everything else… ughhh….), then to me, the moral would be: hey, kids, be more environmentally-aware so that you can save the otters! But is that really what’s on that line here? And would that bring about any real results? Is that what this is all about?
To me, I think your “two businesses” idea—the otters and the kelp—IS YOUR YOUNGER transformation. That, to me, sounds really creative and on point. It’s got that whole “magical realism” (or something!) element where reality is suspended, and animals begin to talk and… run companies. I bet you could run with that for your younger transformation.
For your older transformation, here’s what I recommend: 1st, think about what aspects you COULD “bring out” from the scholarly piece to an older audience. THEN, think about the big, great, wide world of genres that are out there, floating around—what might embody what you want to capture?
Also, be sure to get super-specific about who your audience(s) is, and why they’re participating in whatever genre you’re choosing.
Z
Hey Kaitlyn,
ReplyDeleteDidn’t even know you had an otter tattoo, that’s so sick!
Your chosen scholarly article about otters and Exxon Valdez oil spill definitely caught my attention, and thought it was pretty interesting straight away.
A picture book for your younger audience is a very nice idea as it gives easy visuals to kids! However, why is it important for your younger audience to know the environmental impact of the otters? Should 4-8 year olds know the importance of preserving nature in terms of oil spills?
I think teaching about the environment, especially about the negative impacts of oil spills, should be more so targeted to children around from an older age like twelve?
A news article seems like a really good idea for your older audience! However, your storyline of the corporation being otters and local small business being kelp sort of confused me! Maybe this news article could be more formal and direct about the impacts of the oil spills as it is targeted for an older audience?
WOOO goodluck!
Kaitlyn, I love your article and theme. I too am very passionate about animals and was considering a conservational aspect myself. This article is highly appropriate because it is environmentally relevant; the impact of oil spills on ocean ecology is a huge ongoing issue and one that needs to be made more aware to the public.
ReplyDeleteThe picture book idea for the younger audience is adorable. The idea of having sea otters tell the story through their eyes reminds me of The Lorax, which has a similar theme. Converting a larger issue into an issue relevant to children, like the playground scenario, is also a good idea. That’s what makes kids want to learn. However, I don’t know that the “playground bully” analogy would work in conveying the “protect the environment” message. Do you think little kids would be able to fully make the connection, or might that connection require intense critical thought?
Your “older” genre idea is very creative, I admire that you were able to stretch the idea that far into something economical. But you said you want to make it more realistic, and I don’t know that that’s fully doable simply because of the characters in play. But is being realistic really necessary?
Hey Kaitlyn! I always wanted to ask you about your tattoo, it’s super rad! I think your idea for a children’s book has a lot of potential to be really cute and informative. The only concern that I have is that it may be difficult to incorporate specific aspects of the article into the book itself. Does the article specifically talk about the symbiotic (not sure if this is the right term, I was never good at biology) relationship between the otters, the urchins, and the kelp? If so, perhaps it would be easier to make this the “lesson” of the story. You could simplify the concepts in the article and tie them in with your plot (which is incredibly cute and creative, by the way). As for the newspaper article, I had to read it a few times to fully understand your idea, but I think that it has potential to be really interesting. I like how you transformed what’s happening with the environment into a story about businesses. However, I’m wondering if a news article is the best way to format this idea. An oil spill would be reported in the newspaper anyway, so there isn’t really a need to change the otters into a corporation. Perhaps you could do a business email from one company to another? I’m not totally sure how you’d incorporate information from the article, but it’s just a thought. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteHey Kaitlyn!
ReplyDeleteI really liked the topic you chose as I am very interested in tidal ecosystems. I was a bit confused when it came to what your article was about. I wasn't sure if it was aimed towards the dependence of otter, urchin, and seaweed population on each other, or if it was more towards the effect of oil spills on an ecosystem. In regards to your question about the children's book, I could totally see that working if your article was about the effects of oil spills on ecosystems, and that oil companies should use more caution. I think for your older audience transformation a news article is a good idea. I think you can find plenty of news articles regarding oil spills online as there have been several major ones recently. I think by using otters as the group that goes bankrupt and the parts similar sound like the focus is going back to transforming for a younger audience. What I'm most confused about is whether your article is focusing on the environmental impact of oil or otters. I think this is an important distinction that needs to be made in whichever transformation you choose. I really like your ideas and think you can make something really interesting with your topic.