The Wild World contest winners are in! Students from schools across the country used the Wild World map and website to explore biodiversity in their own backyards, testing their awareness and understanding of conservation issues.
The first-place-winning school will receive a visit from National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Sylvia Earle and World Wildlife Fund Chief Scientist Eric Dinerstein, plus U.S. $10,000 in educational materials; all provided by Ford Motor Company.
Ford Motor Company will also provide the second- and third-place-winning schools with U.S. $6,000 and U.S. $3,000 in educational materials respectively.
A panel of judges selected the winners based on a combination of factors: accuracy of content, evidence of critical thinking and analysis, and overall design and creativity.
FIRST PLACE
Dublin Middle School
Dublin, Virginia
Seventh-graders at Dublin Middle School compared the Mississippi Piedmont Rivers and Streams ecoregion with the Hawaiian Marine ecoregion. Photos and illustrations accompany area-by-area comparisons and student-researched vignettes.
See the first-place winning entry at http://admin.sbo.pulaski.k12.va.us/schools/dms/bellscience/index.html.
SECOND PLACE
Bloomsburg Christian School
Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania
Students in the Life Science and Computer Applications I class at Bloomsburg Christian School compared their ecoregion, Appalachian-Blue Ridge Forests, with the Madagascar Dry Forests ecoregion. Their website features a good resources section.
See the second-place entry at
http://www.bwkip.com/~calvaryb/Ecoregion Project/Ecoregion.html.
THIRD PLACE (TIE)
B. F. Grady Elementary School
Albertson, North Carolina
Students at B.F. Grady Elementary compared the Southeastern Rivers and Streams ecoregion with the Amazon River and Flooded Forest ecoregion. Their scrapbook takes readers on a journey through habitats illustrated with student drawings.
THIRD PLACE (TIE)
Keiller Middle School
San Diego, California
Keiller Middle School students compared their home ecoregion of California Woodlands and Chaparral with the Southwestern Amazon Moist Rainforests. Their scrapbook features pop-up illustrations and brochures on biodiversity.
Honorable Mentions
Hinkletown Mennonite School
Ephrata, Pennsylvania
“Appalachian Blue Ridge and Papuan Rain Forest” scrapbook
McKenney Middle School
Canton, New York
“Eastern Great Lakes Lowland Forest and Central Asian Southern
Desert” webpage
Mendocino Middle School
Mendocino, California
“Two Rainforests: The Mendocino Coast and the Amazon” webpage
New York City Lab School for Collaborative Studies
New York, New York
“A Tale of Two Ecoregions: Northern Coastal Forests and Mexican Highland Lakes” scrapbook
New York City Lab School for Collaborative Studies
New York, New York
“A Comparison of the Northern Coastal Forests and Mexican Highland Lakes” scrapbook
St. Anne School
Houston, Texas
“East Africa Acacia Savanna” scrapbook
St. Anne School
Houston, Texas
“East Siberian Taiga and West Gulf Coastal Grasslands” scrapbook
San Fernando Elementary
Sasabe, Arizona
“Que Sabe de Sasabe y las Tortugas?: Cayman Islands and Sasabe, Arizona” scrapbook
Windsor Junior High
Windsor, Illinois
“Central Forest Grasslands Transition and Amazon River Moist Forest Neotropical” scrapbook
Woodbridge Middle School
Woodbridge, New Jersey
“Central Congolian Lowland Forest and Northeastern Coastal Forest” webpage
