Getting adults to try a Kahoot… :3

Initially, I had wanted to make a video of reactions to raise awareness on the public’s perception towards biodiversity in Singapore, however, considering how most people my age are currently busy studying for block test, I could only down-scale to a simple kahoot and try it on my parents. This was how it went 😀

My original target audiences were people in my age group (teenagers), hence I adopted a game-style to make the information more engaging. Apart from that, I also decided to include both the hawksbill turtle and wild boar, beginning the game with facts about the hawksbill turtle. This was mainly because I had hoped to interest people with something more “uncommon” and “cute”, before introducing the wild boar which was much closer to heartlands. Another consideration was also on how to make the knowledge more memorable and relevant, so in addition to basic facts, I included questions on special occurances as well as well as fun facts that would be hopefully equally captivating!

Unfortunately I can’t share the Kahoot link, so here is a quick glance at the working document :<

Trying on my (not-too-willing) parents :p

To be really honest, I hardly dabble with adults in any of my advocacy work, especially my parents, so to have them try this out was a pretty interesting experience. I realised that for them, they were extremely intrigued by how human-wildlife interactions are like in Singapore, and how these wildlife are much closer to home than they thought! Through the game, they were always questioning the options, because they really are not aware of certain things (for e.g. what is the difference between sea grass and sea weed). Thankfully, my parents were pretty supportive, so even though they had not scored well, they were pretty chill about it XD

This did prompt me to give a simple crash course on the 2 animals first before starting the game, so it would be less demoralising for people! However, it was rather hearterning when my parents shared that they have learnt a lot more about the two animals, and that the process of guessing did make the memory work a lot easier 😀 To top it off, I shared with them infographics I made on the do’s and don’ts when encountering these 2 animals, and hopefully this will stay with them and serve as a guide in the future 🙂

The act of bringing your friends out on walks to get them to really interact with nature is honestly the “easier” way to advocacy. That direct connection serves as a much better education tool than any other kahoot can do. However, making this kahoot has made me consider more perspectives apart from my own, and hence helped me to be more in tune with what others, who may not be as interested in nature, think. The biggest takeaway is probably the reinforcement that advocacy really isn’t about how well you know your stuff, but how well you bring it to the audience according to their preference. And at the end of the day, the most important question would be this: When talking to adults with many other worries and concerns in mind, what is the most important thing that will be memorable for them?

Hopefully this will continue to guide me along in future outreach beyond just the more receptive groups of teenagers, balancing the act of environmental advocacy while dealing with the complexities of humans and society 🙂