An Introduc+on to the Scotland’s Pandas: 1 China/UK Giant Panda Project Panda Profiles Tian Tian and Yang Guang Early Level: Social Studies I explore and appreciate the wonder of nature within different environments and have played a part in caring for the environment. SOC 0-08a Suggested Ac>vity: Compare-a-Bear Aims • To know that pandas are bears. • To iden+fy different types of bear and know where they come from. • To iden+fy the characteris+cs of bears. • To understand that pandas share many characteris+cs with other bears but that they are also different. • To play a part in caring for the environment. Suggested Learning Framework • Read Lesson S+mulus – Panda Profiles to find out about Tian Tian and Yang Guang. • Explain that Tian Tian and Yang Guang are bears and that there are other types of bears living in different environments around the world. Look at a selec+on of videos (see resources) to see bears in a variety of environments. • Look at Bears Of the World and ask pupils to name them and say where they might live. Highlight some of these areas on a map or globe. One of the bears is an imposter, discuss which animal is not a bear. • Once the koala has been iden+fied as the imposter, look at the bear photographs again and discuss similari+es and differences. • What Makes a Bear, a Bear? Use this resource on the SMART Board to look at the characteris+cs of bears. • Pandas are bears, and they share many characteris+cs of other bears - but they are also different. Use How Do Giant Pandas Differ From Other Bears? on the SMART Board and discuss how pandas are different. • Pandas are classed as an endangered species because there are not many of them leY in the wild. This is because much of their habitat in China has been lost. Discuss the importance of protec+ng animal habitats and talk about why it is important to care for our local and global environment. Discuss ways of caring for the environment locally and make a class, or whole school, ac+on plan. An Introduc+on to the Scotland’s Pandas: 1 China/UK Giant Panda Project Panda Profiles Tian Tian and Yang Guang Early Level: Social Studies I explore and appreciate the wonder of nature within different environments and have played a part in caring for the environment. SOC 0-08a Background Notes For TeacHers: This series of ac+vi+es will help pupils explore and appreciate the diversity and wonder of nature within different environments around the world. At the same +me, pupils will begin to understand that humans have played a major role in harming the environment and that this has led to habitat destruc+on, with many animals becoming endangered or ex+nct. The ac+vi+es culminate in pupils taking an ac+ve part in caring for their local environment and an understanding that they have an important role to play in protec+ng the world and all living things that share it with us. If your class, or school, has played an ac+ve role in caring for the environment then we would love to hear about it. Send any photographs or pupils’ work to: JLR Beyond The Panda Educaon, Educaon Department, The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, Corstorphine Road, Edinburgh EH12 6TS We’ll choose some of the work we receive and publish it on our Beyond the Panda website. An Introduc+on to the Scotland’s Pandas: 1 China/UK Giant Panda Project Panda Profiles Tian Tian and Yang Guang Background Notes For TeacHers Bears of the World Bears can be found in North America, South America, Europe, Asia and the Arc+c region. There are eight different types of bears that live on earth, these are; the giant panda, the polar bear, the sloth bear, the spectacled bear, the sun bear, the brown bear, the American black bear and the Asiac bear. Giant Panda The giant panda is a black and white bear that lives high up in the mountainous forests of central China. It is a large, solitary animal whose diet consists mainly of bamboo. The panda spends about 55% of the day (both day+me and night-+me) feeding and will eat over 60 species of bamboo. The giant panda is classed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Polar Bear The polar bear is the largest of all bear types whose nave range lies largely within the Arc+c Circle. It is a carnivorous bear with a diet that consists mainly of ringed and bearded seals. Although a carnivore, the polar bear will eat berries or other available plant material during the summer. The neck of the polar bear is longer than in other species of bear and it has small ears on an elongated head. Polar bears have huge forepaws, which are used as paddles for swimming. The polar bear is classed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Sloth Bear The sloth bear can be found in the forested areas of India, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan. Sloth bears are unique amongst bears in that the majority of their diet is composed of insects, par+cularly termites, and ants. The sloth bear will break open a termite mound with its strong front claws and then insert its snout to blow away the earth and dust before sucking the termites up. The sloth bear is classed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Spectacled Bear The spectacled bear lives in the Andes Mountains of South America. It has cream-coloured facial markings around its eyes that give it its name. The spectacled bear has a rounded head and a relavely short snout compared to other bear species. Like other bears, it is an omnivore, although vegetaon appears to make up the majority of its diet. The spectacled bear is classed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. An Introduc+on to the Scotland’s Pandas: 1 China/UK Giant Panda Project Panda Profiles Tian Tian and Yang Guang Background Notes For TeacHers Bears of the World Sun Bear The sun bear, also known as the “honey bear” is the world’s smallest bear and is found in Borneo, Burma, Malaysia Sumatra and Thailand. It has an extremely long tongue for eang small vertebrates, invertebrates, fruits, the young +ps of palm trees and bees’ nests. The sun bear has a chest patch that can either be yellow, orange or white and may some+mes be speckled or spoied. It has small, rounded ears, a fleshy forehead and a large head. The sun bear is classed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Brown Bear The brown bear, or grizzly bear, is one of the largest bear species. Brown bears are found in western Canada, Alaska, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and Washington. They have a hump, which is a mass of muscle that, together with long claws, provides the bear with great digging ability. Brown bears eat a mixed diet of nuts, grasses, fruits, roots, insects, fish and small animals. The brown bear is classed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. American Black Bear The American black bear is a forest animal that can be coloured black, chocolate-brown, cinnamon or yellow-brown. It has a head that slopes in a straight line from the brow to the end of its snout. The American black bear’s diet consists of plant-based foods such as roots, buds berries, nuts, fruit, small mammals and caribou. It produces a range of vocalisaons including a “woof” sound, used as an alarm by adults, and a shrill howl used by cubs when lonely or frightened. The American black bear is classed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Asiac Bear The Asiac black bear, also known as the “moon bear” is normally black in colour with a dis+nc+ve v- shaped patch of cream coloured fur on its chest. It lives in southern Asia and eats a wide variety of foods including small mammals, birds, bees’ nests and fruits. The Asiac bear has a stocky body, round head and large ears with a black, shaggy coat and ruff of longer hair around the neck. The Asiac bear is classed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. An Introduc+on to the Scotland’s Pandas: 1 China/UK Giant Panda Project Panda Profiles Tian Tian and Yang Guang Background Notes For TeacHers Giant Panda Habitat Loss The giant panda’s mountainous bamboo forest habitat once covered vast areas of China, northern Vietnam and northern Burma. Now, fragments of forest can only be found in a few isolated mountain ranges in Gansu, Shaanxi and the Sichuan Provinces of south-central China. Habitat loss, and the subsequent loss of their primary food source - bamboo, is undoubtedly one of the major reasons for the dwindling numbers of giant pandas in the wild. A typical pair of breeding pandas needs a minimum area of around 30km2 of bamboo forest to support them, but logging has destroyed much of their original habitat. In the Sichuan Province alone the panda’s habitat shrank by 50% between 1974 and 1989. In 1998 the Chinese government banned logging but up un+l that +me large areas of natural bamboo forest were cleared for +mber, fuel wood, infrastructure for a growing populaon and land for hydropower development. Use of the land for agriculture also had a major effect on the giant panda’s habitat and food source.