Maryam Shakir

 Reflective Cycle [Name of the Student] [Name of Institution] Contents Introduction3 Work Plan3 Description3 Feeling4 Evaluation6 Conclusion7 Action7 References8 Introduction The aim of the assignment is to provide a reflective statement on one of the student's chosen project. The project that I chose to work on was to research the extinction of Red-Crowned Crane Lamp. The reflective essay incorporates the Gibs Reflecting Cycle, and it helps in explaining all the aspects clearly. Work Plan March: Write a rough draft for the words written on the lamp; prepare the paper cuts decorations and assemble the lamp holder April 12th Complete the short video April 17th Proofread my writing and write on the lamp April 26th Ask for advice and make possible changes May 8th Put the lampshades on the holder, check the light and finish my reflective statement Description Research shows there are more than 31,000 species that are at the risk of extinction which makes almost 27% of the total animals; however, Red-crowned crane Lamp is one of them (IUCN, 2016). The population of Red-crowned crane Lamp is decreasing with each passing year. Therefore, the aim of my project is to protect the life on land it is one of the 15 Sustainable Development Goals. Particularly I will be focusing on the Red-crowned crane Lamp due to the rapid extinction of this specie as declared by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The main objective of my project is to create awareness about their recent living situation along with their endangered status. Throughout this project, I will be discussing the overall population, its geographic range and their main threats as well. I do not plan to go on this road alone and hope to gather a huge audience who can help me save this specie, we have already lost many great species we must not lose any more. I hope I will be able to use the light switching on and off in order to showcase the difference between the species extinction and their survival as well. Feeling Working on this project has been a hectic task, as it requires me to research about this specie a lot as not many people are aware of it. However, while working on it, I can feel a positive change in my attitude, I feel I have become more empathetic towards animals and birds. In order to spread awareness about them, I will be creating a handmade Chinese style lamp decorated by the crane paper cuts. With the help of this project, I have managed to discover my creative side as well, since I was never the kind of a person who would invest time and money on such creativity. Figure 1:Chinese Lamp The most challenging task for me was to make a video about the girl who lost her life while saving a crane, it was not only physically challenging, but it was emotionally challenging as well. At one point, while studying about the cranes, I almost lost all my motivation to continue this project since I was quite overwhelmed about their debauched living condition. Nevertheless, giving up was not an option for me and with the help of people around me, I got on this project again. On the other hand, making handmade lamps was a fun experience for me due to my newly explored handcrafting skills. In order to have more reach on the video, I have added QR code on the lamp, which links directly to the video. This helped me in spreading awareness about the bird and gathering people to help me in this regard. By the time I was done with the project, I had one great feeling of accomplishment as I did something for someone who could not pay me back in any way. I am more motivated today, and I am now planning to work more for the sustainable developmental goals. Evaluation The overall project was pretty challenging as I faced many setbacks throughout the journey, first of all, getting approval from the supervisor was the first challenge that I faced, as this topic is not well researched and many people are not aware of this bird. However, I had a benefit of living in an area which is one of the biggest reserves of nature for the Red-crowned crane Lamp, which comparatively made it easier for me to collect data and pictures/ videos. The project has helped me in evaluating the reasons why Red-crowned crane Lamp is so extinct today, the main reason that was observed of their extension was the degradation of their habitat, for example, the reduction in the wetland all over the world (Harris & Mirande, 2013). Therefore, one of my purpose of this project was to conserve the action that can be cooperated with the wetland restoration and protection. Apart from this, another thing that I analysed during this project was the careless attitude of today’s youth towards this degeneration of birds and animals. People today are only concerned about their own lives people around them. Working towards such causes has become more of a burden today on the youth, and they do not take seriously (Riley, William & Laura, 2005). Nevertheless, I had a team of well-trained people who helped me with this project. I further analysed that the cranes are going extinct due to human nature as well; people all over the world do not give them the necessary environment that they need for their survival. I have further read in one of the studies while I was researching about them that as reported in the past studies there are not any marked genetic differences in the island population of cranes and that there is a lower population on Hokkaido than any other continental population (K, Hu, Momose, 2007). Later I realised this is the main reason the genetic structure of the overall island population is still not clear. Cranes are not the only animal that is going extinct, but the ratio of penguins, sharks and other animals are also decreasing with each passing year (Koga Hu, Momose, 2009). Conclusion This project was a huge learning experience for me, I did not only manage to learn theoretically, but practically as well I have learned a lot. Before this project, I was not much of an animal enthusiast, but this project us helped me explore that hidden side in me which really cares for the stray animals and the wildlife as well. I plan to continue working on such sustainable goals to make the world a better place not only for humans but for the animals as well. If there is anything that I believe I could have done better than I guess I could have made the video and the song better to keep people more interested in this topic. Action For future actions, I believe I will be working on enhancing my video making skill as these skills can be quite helpful for me in my future projects. Since I continue to work in this area, I will be researching and reading more about the cranes. References IUCN. 2016. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2016-3. Available at: www.iucnredlist.org Jinming, L., Yajie, Y., Zhongyan, G., Wenfeng, W. and Hartup, BKBK 2016. Lead in the Red-Crowned Cranes (Grus japonensis) in Zhalong Wetland, Northeastern China: A Report. Bull. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 97(2): 177-183. K, Hu D, Momose K, editors. 2007. The current status and issues of the Red-crowned Cranes. Tancho Protection Group, Kushiro, Japan. Riley, William, and Laura Riley. 2005. Nature's Strongholds. Princeton, NJNJ: Princeton University Press. Harris, J. and Mirande, C. 2013. A global overview of cranes: status, threats and conservation priorities. Chinese Birds 4(3): 189-209. Koga, K., Hu, D., Momose, K., (ed). 2009. Toward the future: the Red-crowned Cranes and people. Tancho Protection Group, Kushiro, Japan.