DesignContext: February 2014

Responsive - Design Process 2 - Studio Brief 2 - Collaborative Practice - Research into BEAR project

For our theme for our BEAR brief, we decided to look into the natural habitat of a bear for our artwork graphics. Since the bear character on BEAR products isn't defined other than a brown grizzly, we decided to look at 'woodland' as a whole, using creatures etc from 'woodlands' all over the world instead of one specific area. We figure this also gives us another opportunity to teach the kids about each of these locations:

**insert spider diagram here**

Woodland

Activities

Camping

tent
log fire
marshmallows
backpack
compass

Hiking

Picnic
picnic basket
rug
food
table

Creatures

We decided to pick a range of animals that are distinctive to the general 'woodland' theme, but also ones that were colourful or have interesting/ humorous facts that children might enjoy.

Birds

bald eagles

(taken from Wikipedia) The Bald Eagle occurs during its breeding season in virtually any kind of American wetland habitat such as seacoasts, rivers, large lakes or marshes or other large bodies of open water with an abundance of fish. Studies have shown a preference for bodies of water with a circumference greater than 11 km (7 mi), and lakes with an area greater than 10 km² (4 sq mi) are optimal for breeding Bald Eagles.^[30]

owls

robins

taken from Wikipedia: The robin features prominently in British folklore, and that of northwestern France, but much less so in other parts of Europe.^[30] It was held to be a storm-cloud bird and sacred toThor, the god of thunder, in Norse mythology.^[31]

red crosbill

Crossbills are characterized by the mandibles crossing at their tips, which gives the group its English name.

In North America, nine distinct Red Crossbill variants (referred to as call types) differing in vocalizations as well as beak size and shape are recognized.^[2] Each call type evolved to specialize on different species of conifer.^[3]

Northern Cardinal Bird

The northern cardinal is so well loved that it has been named the official bird of no fewer than seven U.S. states. - National Geographic Magazine

mountain chickadees

Mountain Chickadees are known colloquially as Cheeseburger Birds, as their call sounds like they are saying "cheese-bur-ger."

Common inhabitants of the mountainous regions of the western United States, their range extends from the southern Yukon to California and Rocky Mountain States in the United States

blue jay

They are a familiar and noisy presence around many North American bird feeders. The blue jay's "Jay! Jay!" call is only one of a wide variety of sounds the bird employs—including excellent imitations of several hawk calls.

European Green Woodpecker

RSPB: The black 'moustache' has a red centre in males.

Fish

salmon

Small critters

European badgers

The word badger is said to derive from the French ‘bêcheur’ meaning ‘digger’.Badgers are incredibly clean and will not defecate (poo) in their sett – they have special latrines (communal toilets) comprising of shallow pits placed away from the setts on the edge of their territory. They will not bring food into the sett either.

raccoons

Among others, the Dakota Sioux believe the raccoon has natural spirit powers, since its mask resembled the facial paintings, two-fingered swashes of black and white, used during rituals to connect to spirit beings. Raccoons sometimes "wash" their food, rapidly dunking it in water before eating.

hedgehogs

They have about 5000 spines. Each spine lasts about a year then drops out and a replacement grows.

foxes

The word shenanigan (a deceitful confidence trick, or mischief) is considered to be derived from the Irish expression sionnachuighim, meaning "I play the fox.

moles

By the era of Early Modern English, the mole was also known in English as mouldywarp, a word having cognates in other Germanic languages such as German (Maulwurf),^[3] and Danish, Norwegian, Swedish and Icelandic(muldvarp, mullvad, moldvarpa), where the muld/mull/mold part of the word means soil and the varp/vad/varpa part means throw, hence "one who throws soil" or "dirt tosser".

otters

An otter's den is called a holt or couch.

skunks

The word "polecat" (with "pole" from either the French poule "chicken" or puant "stinking"), which in Europe refers to the wild relatives of the ferret, has been attested in the New World to refer to the skunk since the 1680s.^[1] The word "squunck" is attested in New England in the 1630s, probably borrowed from Abenaki seganku^[2] or another Algonquian language, with the Proto-Algonquian form */šeka:kwa/ being a compound of the roots */šek-/ meaning 'to urinate' and */-a:kw/ meaning 'fox'.^[3] The name of the family and of the most common genus (Mephitidae, Mephitis) means "stench", while Spilogale putorius means "stinking spotted weasel".^{[citation needed]}Skunks are one of the primary predators of the honeybee, relying on their thick fur to protect them from stings. The skunk scratches at the front of the beehive and eats the guard bees that come out to investigate. Mother skunks are known to teach this behavior to their young.

Beavers

When building in a pond, the beavers first make a pile of sticks and then eat out one or more underwater entrances and two platforms above the water surface inside the pile. The first is used for drying off. Towards winter, the lodge is often plastered with mud which when it freezes has the consistency of concrete. A small air hole is left in the top of the lodge.

The largest beaver dam is 2,790 ft (850 m) in length—more than half a mile long—and was discovered via satellite imagery in 2007.^[19] It is located on the southern edge of Wood Buffalo National Park in northern Alberta and is twice the width of the Hoover Dam which spans 1,244 ft (379 m).^[20]

red/grey squirrels

The coat of the red squirrel varies in colour with time of year and location. There are several different coat colour morphs ranging from black to red. Red coats are most common in Great Britain; in other parts of Europe and Asia different coat colours co-exist within populations, much like hair colour in some human populations.The active period for the red squirrel is in the morning and in the late afternoon and evening. It often rests in its nest in the middle of the day, avoiding the heat and the high visibility to birds of prey that are dangers during these hours. During the winter, this mid-day rest is often much more brief, or absent entirely, although harsh weather may cause the animal to stay in its nest for days at a time.

rabbits

If confronted by a potential threat, a rabbit may freeze and observe then warn others in the warren with powerful thumps on the ground.

Larger animals

moose

Moose have long, lighter-colored legs with the front pair longer than the hind ones. Other features include a long nose, drooping lip, hump at the shoulders and small tail. The flap of skin that hangs beneath the throat is called a BELL. Males are immediately recognizable by their huge antlers, which can spread 6 feet (1.8 meters) from end to end. Size: Height at shoulder, 5 to 6.5 ft (1.5 to 2 m)

deer

Male deer, called bucks, are easily recognizable in the summer and fall by their prominent set of antlers, which are grown annually and fall off in the winter. They use speed and agility to outrun predators, sprinting up to 30 miles (48 kilometers) per hour and leaping as high as 10 feet (3 meters) and as far as 30 feet (9 meters) in a single bound.

bighorn sheep

Bighorn sheep were among the most-admired animals of the Apsaalooka (Crow) people, and what is today called the Bighorn Mountain Range was central to the Apsaalooka tribal lands. In the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area book, storyteller Old Coyote describes a legend related to the bighorn sheep. A man possessed by evil spirits attempts to kill his heir by pushing the young man over a cliff, but the victim is saved by getting caught in trees. Rescued by bighorn sheep, the man takes the name of their leader, Big Metal. The other sheep grant him power, wisdom, sharp eyes, sure-footedness, keen ears, great strength, and a strong heart. Big Metal returns to his people with the message that the Apsaalooka people will survive only so long as the river winding out of the mountains is known as the Bighorn River.^[31]

The Bighorn River, another tributary of the Yellowstone, and its tributary stream, the Little Bighorn River were both indicated on Clark's map and did retain their names, the latter being the namesake of the Battle of the Little Bighorn.^[35]

wolves

When they are successful, wolves do not eat in moderation. A single animal can consume 20 pounds (9 kilograms) of meat at a sitting.All of a pack's adults help to care for young pups by bringing them food and watching them while others hunt.

mountain goats

Both male and female mountain goats have beards, short tails, and long black horns, 15–28 cm (5.9–11.0 in) in length, which contain yearly growth rings.Mountain goats are powerful but nimble and can jump nearly 12 feet (3.5 meters) in a single bound.

bears

Grizzly bears hibernate for 5–7 months each year.^[24] During this time, female grizzly bears give birth to their offspring, who then consume milk from their mother and gain strength for the remainder of the hibernation period.^[25] To prepare for hibernation, grizzlies must prepare a den, and consume an immense amount of food as they do not eat during hibernation. Grizzly bears do not defecate or urinate throughout the entire hibernation period. The male grizzly bear's hibernation ends in early to mid March, while females emerge in April or early May.^[26]

Human settlement

ranch

log cabins
treehouse
lodges

cottages
castles

Scenery

meadows

flowers

caves
rivers

waterfalls

mountains

'bald knobs'

glaciers

trees

One tree can absorb as much carbon in a year as a car produces while driving 26,000 miles.

Giant sequoia

At any given time, a large tree may be expected to have about 11,000 cones. Cone production is greatest in the upper portion of the canopy. A mature giant sequoia has been estimated to disperse 300,000–400,000 seeds per year. The winged seeds may be carried up to 180 metres (590 ft) from the parent tree.

They can live for up to 3,500 years, reaching heights comparable to skyscrapers.

The tallest trees currently standing include the President, the General Sherman and the General Grant, all above 240ft - but they are far from the tallest known in history. One of the biggest of them all was known as the Mother of the Forest, which stood in the area from 668 BC and was discovered by George Gale in 1852.Champion: The General Sherman is the tallest tree in the world still standing, at a staggering 275ft

taken from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2235452/Giant-sequoia-National-Geographic-pictures-giants-forest-Sierra-Nevada.html#ixzz2tgsIInDt

oak tree

♣ After about 20 years, these trees start producing acorns. Some trees may even take up to 50 years to produce the first lot. Yearly production of acorns for a mature tree may touch around 2,200 acorns per year.
Read more at Buzzle: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/facts-about-oak-trees.html

Major Oak - 'Robin Hood's Shelter'
A famous oak tree is the huge Major Oak near the village of Edwinstowe in the heart of Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire, England. This ancient tree is between 800 to 1,000 years old and has a waistline of 33 feet. What makes this magnificent tree so popular is the belief that it was Robin Hood's shelter where he and his merry men slept.

Read more at Buzzle: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/facts-about-oak-trees.html

The smoke from oak wood chips is used for smoking fish, meat, cheese and other foods. It is also used for tanning leather, as the bark is rich in tannin.
Read more at Buzzle: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/facts-about-oak-trees.html