Real-Life Math -- Solution
This is how your speech might sound:
Ladies
and gentlemen,
Thank you for taking the time to review my grant proposal,
and for your interest in funding my research study of the Indiana bat.
As
you may know, the Indiana bat has been declared an endangered species due
to the dropping numbers. My goal is to eventually see the Indiana bat removed
from the endangered species list. But that is going to require in-depth research
to learn more about them and how to protect them.
I have been observing
and studying the bat for more than five years. In that time, I have learned
great amounts of information about the species. For example, the Indiana bat
returns to the same nesting area each year during mating season.
This
in itself is not unusual behavior. But when you consider that the bats do
not follow the same migratory patterns from year to year, I think it might
be a significant finding.
I would like to continue my research of the
Indiana bats. I hope to be able to provide suggestions as to how we can help
this species regain its footing in the ecological system of this country.
To do so, I need $50,000 worth of funding.
That funding will be used
to purchase tagging and sonograph equipment. When captured, the bats can be
tagged, then released. Using the sonograph equipment, they can be tracked
and their communications sounds can be recorded for further study.
I
hope that you will find this project worth funding. Together, we can help
restore a species that is sure to be lost if some action is not taken. Thank
you.
Louise Milligan is an animal physiologist. She says
that communication is one skill that she could not survive without.
"Every
day involves writing something, whether it is a memo to your colleagues, a
lecture for class, a speech, a paper describing your research, a review article,
a grant proposal [or] a review of another's work," she says.
"It
never ends. Good written communication skills are a must. Good oral communication
skills are equally important."