Welcome to the Crowdsourcing Mornings segment! Every weekday morning, Geek Alabama talks about and features one crowdsourcing project from crowdsourcing sites such as, Indiegogo, and others. The hope with Crowdsourcing Mornings is to feature and help a project be successful and reach its fundraising goal. Please enjoy today’s featured project!
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Spooky. Creepy. Yucky. Stinky. In Western pop culture, swamps, bogs, marshes, and wetlands are generally seen as dark and mysterious wastelands. What lies beneath these murky waters? Could it be slithering snakes, a stealthy alligator or even evidence from a crime?
Through hand-painted watercolor illustrations, this book aims to illuminate the “slimy swamps” for both children and their families. It will showcase the beauty of toads (warts and all), the sweet relationship between alligator moms and their babies, and the beauty and utility of aquatic plants. Through simple rhyme, the book will communicate to children the complex ways in which animals and plants impact each other (including humans). It will also contain an annex filled with bonus “fun facts” for parents and older children.
In addition to families, the book can be used by schools, libraries, and environmental education organizations to inspire children to learn about the interconnectedness of our ecosystem. There are currently only a handful of fiction and nonfiction children’s books featuring swamp animals and plants. This book will combine both a fictional story with nonfiction elements by showcasing interesting facts and anthropomorphizing animals and plants. The book can be used for a fun story time session, bedtime reading, or a science-based classroom or camp activity.
Growing up, I held my nose around swampy areas and got the heebie jeebies from listening to loud hissing noises that sounded like snakes. I thought swamps were “underdeveloped” and that human “advancement” meant draining wetlands to make way for roads, houses, and office buildings. However, through my work in environmentally focused international exchange programs and general curiosity, I learned to appreciate the critical role swamps, marshes, and other wetlands play in our communities.
Despite their reputation, as we have seen in recent years, wetlands are a critical part of our ecosystem. They control floods, purify water, absorb carbon dioxide, and are rich in biodiversity. For instance, the bald cypress trees prevalent in U.S. wetlands can absorb excess floodwater and trap pollutants from agricultural runoffs. The tree’s unique structure also provides home to diverse animals such as wood ducks, catfish, turtles, and bald eagles. The resident eastern box turtle returns the favor, as these “ecosystem engineers” disperse plant seeds across both water and land.
Beyond their impact on the environment, the plants and animals that reside in wetlands are simply FASCINATING! For instance, the sex of an alligator is determined by the temperature of their nesting site. Cooler temperatures usually produce more females while warmer temperatures usually produce more males. While learning more about the flora and fauna, I had a sudden impulse to pick up a paintbrush and attempt to capture their extraordinary features. As a parent who reads countless bedtime stories, I became inspired to write and illustrate a children’s book showcasing the beauty of our swampy friends.
The book will be an 8.5” by 11” fiction rhyming book with colorful hand-painted illustrations and an annex containing additional “fun facts.” The primary audience is children ages 3 to 8 years old. It will be fun for parents to read to younger children during bedtime as well as for early readers to practice their reading chops. Due to the colorful yet simple illustrations, the book will also appeal to infants and toddlers. The book can be used by librarians and teachers for story time and/or science-based experiments and activities.
As of December 12th, this project has raised $3,200 of their $4,000 goal. This project has 57 days left to raise the $4,000 or it will not be funded. For a pledge of $25, you will get one book. For a pledge of $45, you will get one book plus extras. To learn more and to pledge money, go to: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hiddentails/celebrating-our-wetlands-the-hidden-tails-of-a-muddy-swamp?
Categories: Crowdsourcing Mornings Stuff
