Seventeenth Annual Give Wildlife a Chance poster contest, 2007

Seventeenth Annual Give Wildlife a Chance Poster Contest
Sponsored by: The State Botanical Garden of Georgia--www.uga.edu/botgarden The Environmental Resources Network, Inc. (T.E.R.N.) - www.TERNforwildlife.org The Georgia Department of Natural Resources--www.georgiawildlife.com Wildlife Resources Division Nongame Conservation Section 116 Rum Creek Drive Forsyth, Georgia 31029-6518
Please make copies available to:
K-5 Teachers Art Teachers Science Teachers Media Specialists/Librarians
Habitats for Wildlife: Make a Difference
in Your Own Schoolyard!
See inside for details...

Attach a copy of the Poster Contest Entry Form (with tape) to the back of each poster.

Poster Description: _________________________
_________________________
_________________________

Seventeenth Annual Give Wildlife a Chance Poster Contest Entry Form
Deadline: February 23, 2007

(NOTE: The Contest Committee will only accept ONE entry per division, per school - see Poster Contest Rules and Guidelines.)

Student's Name: ______________________________________________________________

Age: ___________

Grade: ___________

Parent's Name(s): _____________________________________________________________

Home Address: _______________________________________________________________

City: __________________________________ Zip code: _____________________________

Phone: ________________________________

Student's Signature: ___________________________________________________________

School: ______________________________________________________________________

Contest Coordinator: ___________________________________________________________

Address: ____________________________________________________________________

City: __________________________________ Zip code: _____________________________

Phone: _____________________ Email: __________________________________________
Do you want this poster returned? Yes _____ No _____ (You MUST enclose exact postage - stamps only - and a mailing label for the entries to be returned.)
How many years has your class participated in this program? ___ Total number of posters mailed: 1 2 3 4 (circle one)
Send poster contest entries to: Give Wildlife a Chance Poster Contest The State Botanical Garden of Georgia 2450 S. Milledge Ave. Athens, GA 30605
ENTRY DEADLINE: Posters must be postmarked by Friday, February 23, 2007 to participate.

Additional copies available at: www.georgiawildlife.com or www.uga.edu/botgarden

Poster Contest Rules and Guidelines

Sponsorship and Judging
The Seventeenth Annual Give Wildlife a Chance Poster Contest is sponsored by The Georgia Department of Natural Resources, The State Botanical Garden of Georgia and The Environmental Resources Network, Inc. (T.E.R.N.). The theme changes yearly, though the contest is an ongoing educational effort to help children and teachers gain awareness of Georgia's native plants and animals. Artists, as well as wildlife and plant professionals, judge the contest entries based on artistic interpretation, originality, visual impact and contest theme.

Eligibility

- The contest is open to individual students (no group drawings) in Kindergarten through 5th grades.

- Home school groups, public schools and private schools are encouraged to participate.

- Schools/groups may enter one poster from any or all divisions:

Division 1: Kindergarten

Division 3: Third and Fourth Grades

Division 2: First and Second Grades Division 4: Fifth Grade

- Each school/group may enter no more than at total of four posters to the state level contest (one per division).

Size and Format
- Outside dimensions cannot exceed 17" x 22" (vertically or horizontally). - Collages and other three-dimensional artwork are not suitable for this contest. - Posters should be submitted on white tag-board or on white art paper (no matting). - DO NOT FOLD. Submit art flat in a package or roll into a mailing tube. - If you want the students' entries returned, you MUST include exact postage (stamps only - no metered tapes) and mailing label or the entries will not be returned.

Entry Form
- Attach a copy of the Seventeenth Annual Give Wildlife a Chance Poster Contest Entry Form to the back of each poster with tape. - Please DO NOT use glue or staples. - Send posters to The State Botanical Garden of Georgia postmarked by Friday, February 23, 2007:
Give Wildlife a Chance Poster Contest The State Botanical Garden of Georgia 2450 S. Milledge Ave. Athens, GA 30605 P: (706) 542-6156 F: (706) 542-3826

Contest Rules
1. While following the Poster Contest Rules and Guidelines, instruct your students to depict artistic drawings of their findings and arrange for a local competition at your school.
2. Each entry must depict at least one native, nongame plant and animal of Georgia. 3. First, second and third place winners should be chosen at the local level (refer to Contest Awards section). 4. All participating students can receive place award ribbons and a Give Wildlife a Chance certificate (refer to Contest
Awards section). 5. Only ONE school-wide winner from each division can be chosen to compete in the state level contest at The State
Botanical Garden of Georgia (refer to Eligibility section). State level entries are normally the artwork of the first place school winners.
6. All contest entries must adhere to the contest theme: "Habitats for Wildlife: Make a Difference in Your Own
Schoolyard." 7. Avoid the use of game species (those legally hunted, trapped or fished) such as deer, turkey, raccoon, bobcat, squirrel
and Canada geese. Note that, while these animals are important to the wildlife diversity of Georgia, this competition is emphasizing the exploration of Georgia's nongame species. 8. Do not include pictures of exotic, zoo animals. 9. Do not include people as the main focus. 10. If necessary, please briefly describe the species depicted on the Poster Contest Entry Form.

Teacher Tips
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources, The State Botanical Garden of Georgia and The Environmental Resources Network, Inc. (T.E.R.N.) are delighted that you and your students are participating in the Seventeenth Annual Give Wildlife a Chance Poster Contest! The theme for this year's competition is "Habitats for Wildlife: Make a Difference in Your Own Schoolyard" a topic that encourages your students to explore Georgia's many plant and animal interactions and the reliance each has on the other. In the wild, animals' survival is heavily dependent upon plants and, in most cases, plants need the assistance of animals to survive as well. This year's theme also urges you and your students to Make a Difference in Your Own Schoolyard while learning more about Georgia's wildlife. All wildlife requires food, water and cover to live and raise their young. Helping create habitats for wildlife in your schoolyard will bring many rewards to you, your students, your school and wildlife. Gardening for wildlife is fun, relaxing, it makes the schoolyard more attractive, and most of all it helps to nurture and support Georgia's wildlife all year!
Learn more about how to start your own schoolyard habitat site through the National Wildlife Federation's Schoolyard Habitats Certification Program (www.nwf.org/schoolyard): You can use your Schoolyard Habitats site for hands-on learning. Bring concepts "alive" by actively using the habitat site as an outdoor classroom. Students use math skills to map the schoolyard; science as they study photosynthesis; and social studies as they study past land uses of the school site. In today's learning environment, where schools are striving to meet and exceed high standards of learning, we all must be creative in presenting content. The schoolyard can be a valuable avenue for teaching and reinforcing curriculum standards and concepts for students.
Whether it is in the schoolyard or students' backyards, your assignment is to excite and educate your students about Georgia's wildlife. So take your students to the outdoors and let them explore the wonderful world of wildlife in Georgia!
Contest Details Start with a Local Contest at Your School
While following the Poster Contest Rules and Guidelines, your students will depict artistic drawings of their findings and will compete at the local level in a school-wide poster contest. First, second and third place winners should be chosen from your school's entries for the local level contest at your school. All participating students can receive place award ribbons and a Give Wildlife a Chance certificate (refer to Contest Awards section). Participating schools will then choose one first place winner from each division and mail the winning entries to The State Botanical Garden of Georgia to compete in the state level contest. These entries will be comprised of the four division categories described in the Poster Contest Rules and Guidelines section. Four state level winners will be chosen and presented awards after competition judging takes place.
Classroom Activities and Resources
- Check with your school or public library, county extension agent, garden club, nature center or local nursery to see what information they offer on native wildlife. - Host a guest speaker, go on a field trip to a natural area or display photos of native species in your classroom. - Use identification field guides to learn range and distribution of Georgia's native plants and animals. - Visit a butterfly garden and have your students draw what they see. - Help your students to distinguish the differences between native plants and introduced/exotic species such as kudzu, and learn how exotic species can displace the native species. - Create a schoolyard wildlife habitat with your students and teach them life skills and other educational goals while gardening for wildlife through the National Wildlife Federation's Schoolyard Habitats at www.nwf.org/schoolyard. - If you have internet access in your classroom or school library, show your students how to do an internet search for Georgia's native nongame wildlife. Visit sites such as: www.gwf.org, www.georgiawildlife.com, www.gos.org, http://museum.nhm.uga.edu, www.uga.edu/botgarden, www.uga.edu/srel, www.enature.com, http://southeast.fws.gov.

Contest Awards
Certificates: Educators may request Give Wildlife a Chance certificates for all students who participate in their
local school competition. There is no limit to the number of certificates a participating school can receive.
Ribbons: Educators may request first, second and third place ribbons to present to class, grade level or school
group participants. There is no limit to the number of ribbons a participating school can receive.
NEW State Level Award: All four state level winners' artwork will be showcased in the Give Wildlife a
Chance Poster Contest CALENDAR and distributed to schools and education centers across Georgia.
All state level contest entries will be on display at The State Botanical Garden in Athens during the weeks of March 6--20, 2007. All teachers and parents are encouraged to bring your students out to the Garden to see their work on display and enjoy an adventurous day at Georgia's State Botanical Garden!
Mail or fax the Request for Awards Form to:
Give Wildlife a Chance Poster Contest The State Botanical Garden of Georgia 2450 S. Milledge Ave. Athens, GA 30605 Fax: (706) 542-3826
Seventeenth Annual Give Wildlife a Chance Poster Contest
Request for Awards Form
Number of Ribbons: First Place ________ Second Place ________ Third Place _________
Number of Certificates: ________ Total number of students participated in contest: _________
Contest Coordinator: ________________________________ Grade(s) Teach: ____________
School Name: _______________________________________________________________
Address: ___________________________________________________________________
City: ___________________________________________ Zip code: ____________________
Phone: ________________________________ Fax: ________________________________
Email: _________________________________________ County: _____________________
Available Contact Time(s): _____________________________________________________

Habitats for Wildlife: Make a Difference in Your Own Schoolyard!

Attention K-5 Teachers:

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources, The State Botanical Garden of Georgia and The Environmental Resources Network, Inc. (T.E.R.N.) encourage you and your students to compete in the Seventeenth Annual Give Wildlife a Chance Poster Contest. This popular conservation art contest provides a unique opportunity for students to explore the wonders of Georgia's native plant and animal species through this year's theme-- "Habitats for Wildlife: Make a Difference in Your Own Schoolyard!"

Native species are those that naturally occur in Georgia, unlike exotic species that were introduced from other places. They come in all shapes and sizes -- from the large, moss-covered live oak tree of South Georgia (our state tree) to the little grass frog, the smallest frog species in North America!

The vast majority of Georgia's native wildlife species are nongame (those which are not hunted, trapped or fished) and can include rare or endangered animals and plants such as the endangered Red-cockaded Woodpecker and the Hooded Pitcherplant, an unusual carnivorous plant found in the longleaf pine ecosystem. There are approximately 3,600 species of nongame plants, 950 nongame vertebrate species and countless invertebrate species of nongame wildlife in Georgia. In fact, more than 95% of Georgia's vertebrate wildlife species are considered nongame!

Nongame wildlife can be found in your schoolyard, students' backyards or community parks. Some of the nongame wildlife that your students can depict in their artwork are songbirds, small mammals, salamanders, manatees, fish, snakes, hawks, insects and many species of native plants. Take your students on a field trip to a nearby state park, botanical garden or wildlife management area and set them free to observe and explore Georgia's wildlife!

We look forward to working with you and your students on the Seventeenth Annual Give Wildlife a Chance

Poster Contest! If you have any questions or need additional copies of this brochure, please visit these websites:

www.georgiawildlife.com and www.uga.edu/botgarden, or contact:

Kitty Spivey (229) 227-5422 or Susan Cooper (706) 542-6156

Kitty_Spivey@dnr.state.ga.us

sdcooper@uga.edu