In this interdisciplinary unit, it was about combining both Language and Literature and Science to communicate the information collected of an endangered species to spread awareness. Language and Literature helps communicate the information collected, and in Science, it is about finding data. Social Media is a great way to share scientific information to a wide range of audience. If you want to post and share the information, you would want to make sure that it is your best work. Here are few guidelines that would help you do that, with examples of students in Grade 7 who demonstrated that specific guideline(s).

The first guideline is to use correct grammar and spelling when posting a post. Make sure that everything is well-written in the correct form. There should be no grammatical errors in the post. If you don’t use correct grammar or spelling, it might make the reader feel that the author of the post unprofessional. Also, if there are grammatical errors or spelling mistakes, it might be misunderstood by the audience. Before posting, read the text again to proofread what you wrote.

@h_seria (2017, May 25). Climate change is the main threat for polar bears.Let’s #SaveTheArctic! This is my infographic ↙️https://t.co/q61TR2l6Q1#KASeaBears pic.twitter.com/O13LCbR1DE. Retrieved June 05, 2017, from https://twitter.com/h_seria/status/867717574422810624

This is a good example of someone who posted a grammatically correct post. Every word that should be capitalized is capitalized. There were no incomplete sentences. The sentences were punctuated correctly. Seria also included an infographic that gives more information about her topic.

The second guideline is to include visuals that supports the data or gives information. For example, graphs could support data and give information. Graphs are easy to comprehend and communicates the idea or information faster. When you post articles/blog posts or information on Social Media, you can just attach the graphs at the part where you want to support the data and/or give information. Another way is to put the graphs in an infographic. In an infographic, there would be words, data and visuals. Also, adding visuals would make the viewer to want to read the post or article/blog post. It would catch the viewer’s attention.

Shen, A. (2017, May 26). The Plight Of The Christmas Frigatebird: Habitat Destruction. Retrieved June 05, 2017, from http://share.kas.tw/jiashe22/2017/05/26/the-plight-of-the-christmas-frigatebird-habitat-destruction/

Take a look at Anthony’s blog post on Christmas Frigatebirds. In the beginning, you would see an introduction and an infographic attached to the blog post. The infographic gives information of the conservation status, range, population, the estimate of breeding pairs and threats of the Christmas Frigatebirds. There are also visuals that are included which makes the infographic look full. You wouldn’t want your infographic to look empty.

Anthony also included another picture that was a map in the same blog post. This picture gave information about the Christmas Frigatebird. These visuals that were included inside of Anthony’s post were informational and helpful.

Not all social medias allow you to include a lot of information in one post. This leads us to the third guideline, write a strong headline and attach a link in one post. The headline is like a brief introduction to your article/blog post, so make sure the headline allows you to make the viewer want to go to the website where there is more about the topic.

@MirandaLi9 (2017, May 31) Scientists predict that after 2 to 3 generations, Pandas would go extinct! More information: http://share.kas.tw/mirli22/2017/05/30/save-the-pandas/ #KASendangered Retrieved June 05, 2017, from https://twitter.com/MirandaLi9/status/869970721811816448

On Twitter, you can only tweet 140 words. So you cannot write a lot in a tweet. In this tweet, Miranda tweeted a strong headline and attached a link to her blog post. The blog post contains more information about pandas. This allows viewers to go to the link and find out more about pandas.

When you are posting information, use appropriate language. Appropriate language is words that is used correctly, easy to understand and no swear words. Make sure that your words are used correctly, or else, you might confuse the viewer. Your message may not be conveyed. If you use words that are hard to understand, it would limit your audience. You don’t want to limit your audience when you want to spread awareness or information. Especially when you are sharing scientific information, don’t use terminologies that are difficult. Also, don’t use swear words in your posts. If you use swear words in your post, it would be impolite.

@ShenAnthony (2017, May 24). Protect the #christmasfrigatebird. Degrading #Habitat by mining could be corrected by government intervention! https://t.co/ZcoJi25A5n pic.twitter.com/FaPas8erkp. Retrieved June 05, 2017, from https://twitter.com/ShenAnthony/status/867375545184436225

This is an example of a tweet that doesn’t include In this tweet, there were no hard words that would limit Anthony’s audience. People can understand the message. Anthony’s tweet on protecting the Christmas Frigatebirds did not include any difficult words, but still conveyed a message.

The fifth guideline is that be sure the information that you share is cited correctly. The sources used should be cited, this would allow the reader to know where the information you are sharing is from. Citing your sources is really important because, you are giving credit to the author(s) of the sources you used.

Shen, A. (2017, May 26). The Plight Of The Christmas Frigatebird: Habitat Destruction. Retrieved June 05, 2017, from http://share.kas.tw/jiashe22/2017/05/26/the-plight-of-the-christmas-frigatebird-habitat-destruction/

This is the bibliography from the blog post by Anthony Shen that had been analyzed earlier. He cited the sources he used in APA format. This shows where he got the information from and gives credit to the author(s) of the articles. If a reader wanted to know where he got his information from, the reader could go to Anthony’s bibliography on this post and find the sources Anthony used.

These are a few guidelines that could help you with your posts on Social Media about the information that you would want to share.

The Red-crowned Cranes are important in both the Japanese and the Chinese culture. There is a tradition of folding 1000 of Red-crowned Cranes to resemble contentment, peace and the hope of health in the Japanese culture. In the Chinese culture, the Red-crowned Cranes represents auspiciousness and long life.

There are only 2750 Red-crowned Cranes left in the world, estimated by scientists. The Red-crowned Cranes are endangered because of human activities, which mainly creates habitat loss. Examples are the destruction of migration paths, breeding grounds and areas that are cold. The drainage of wetlands are harming the Red-crowned Cranes’ habitat. The development of the humans, like constructing roads, expansion of agriculture, cleaning forest and channelizing rivers are another part of the cause. Their natural habitat, which are marshlands, are turned into factories, rice fields and farmlands. The Red-crowned are also experiencing overexploitation, they being hunted and eaten. Some are encountering harassment by humans. Pesticides that humans put in the farm are really bad to the animals. The pesticides includes toxic chemicals that kills the bugs and insects, which poisons the grains planted in the farm. When the Red-crowned Cranes go eat the grains, they get poisoned.

Fire, that destroys and burns the nests of the Red-crowned Cranes are also harmful.

Here I created an infographic talking about the Red-crowned Cranes.

There are many ways to help save the Red-crowned Cranes. The Wild Bird Society of Japan is a organization that helps save the Red-crowned Cranes and also teaches other people about them. Check out this website to find out more about how the Wild Bird Society of Japan are helping the Red-crowned Cranes: https://www.wbsj.org/en/tsurui/

Bibliography:
1) Red-Crowned Crane. (2013, November 24). Retrieved May 24, 2017, from http://www.ourendangeredworld.com/species/birds-bats/red-crowned-crane/
2) Hones, J. N. (2012, May 12). Asian Symbolism and the Crane. Retrieved May 24, 2017, from http://asianlifestyledesign.com/2012/05/asian-symbolism-crane/
3) (n.d.). Retrieved May 31, 2017, from https://www.savingcranes.org/species-field-guide/red-crowned-crane/
4) (n.d.). Retrieved May 31, 2017, from https://www.konicaminolta.com/kids/endangered_animals/library/sky/rc-crane.html
5) (n.d.). Retrieved May 31, 2017, from https://www.zoo.org/page.aspx?pid=1858#.WS7hIBOGNE4
6) The Problem with Pesticides. (n.d.). Retrieved May 31, 2017, from http://www.toxicsaction.org/problems-and-solutions/pesticides