Research Process
◆ Selection of the Topic
As we have all worked on projects about endangered animals in Taiwan or have had lessons about them, we initially wanted to focus on endangered species that are rarely known and require attention, such as the Formosan Pangolin, Chinese white dolphin, or Taiwan's Leopard Cats. After sharing our brief ideas with our club teachers, they invited our science teacher, Mr. Ciou, to provide us with more clear guidelines. Over the past few years, Mr. Ciou has worked hard to implement a green campus at our school and has led the students to set an example and care for nature together. As a result, the land on the school campus can gradually recover and become a suitable habitat for various plants and animals. We hoped to gain insight into our topic selection from Mr. Ciou's expertise.
and provided an explanation of the research project's value.
Mr. Ciou introduced the endangered species we had selected and reminded us to check the updated IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List of Threatened Species to research species that are at high risk of global extinction. Moreover, while all birds of prey in Taiwan are under conservation, not all of them are endangered and some may be easily observed nowadays. He also emphasized that if we wanted to focus on an endangered species in Taiwan, we should select a topic for which we can find reliable and up-to-date resources, as well as productive action plans that are cooperated with different organizations. Just as we were feeling overwhelmed with topic selection, one of our club members came up with the idea of reviewing the action plans listed in our projects to see if they had any common concept. With the assistance of Mr. Ciou, we were able to identify that some of the plans had a shared concept known as the Satoyama Initiative.
The topic of the Satoyama Initiative is challenging, as the more we explore this concept, the more essential ideas related to the environment come out, such as eco-civilization. We have embarked on a journey of inquiry into the Satoyama Initiative and related information. We evaluated not only the benefits of practicing the Satoyama Initiative, but also related concepts and reflected on our campus. Now, join us on this journey, and let us show you all the spectacular things we have discovered!