Freebee Friday: Making History Pay

History reference and research publisher ABC-CLIO has started the Hunt for History contest that can not only inspire a class to create an innovative interpretation of the past, but win school equipment and curriculum stuff along the way. The contest starts by teachers signing up for a two-month free trial of the company’s 13 online databases and using its information to answer 15 questions about issues, actors on the world scene and global events. You have to do this by April 30 in order to win things like iPads and year-long subscriptions to the company’s collection of ebooks and databases.

 

 

Freebee Friday: Special Ed Winners

If you’ve never heard of Morgan’s Wonderland, you’re missing a treat. It’s a 25-acre completely accessible amusement park in San Antonio that has rides, playgrounds, gardens and activities for those with special needs as well as an 8-acre fishing lake. The people behind PCI Education and WeAreTeachers are giving away a trip to it worth $5,000 for one deserving student and family, including airfare and accommodations. In addition, 5 teachers will get educational products from PCI Education. To be in the running, teachers need to nominate exceptional students based on their needs and ability to inspire fellow students and teachers. Better hurry, the contest ends on October 1.

Freebee Friday: Greening Up the Classroom

Want to make your classroom a greener place to teach but there’s no cash to do it World of Green will give away $250 of eco gear to do it. Just submit anapplication before September 2, 2010. It’s too late for most schools to get the class involved but it’s a nice classroom activity. Tell the people at World of Green why recycling, reducing and reusing are important concepts. The winner will get $250 of earth-friendly products, from soy inks and sugar cane paper to tree-free pencils.

 

FRIDAY FREEBEE: Let There Be Light

Need some cash to upgrade your school’s lighting equipment because your electricity bills are out of control? The top prize of Lutron’s Greenovation Bright Green Dream contest can provide $15,000 for renovating your school. Just have your students imagine how to cut your school’s electricity use and carbon footprint while enhancing the learning environment. The submission can be on paper or digital, and the deadline is October 12, 2009. Any questions? Try the Q&A about the contest.
 
 

Network Makeover

Is your school’s networking gear so old that you’re ashamed to look at it? D-Link and ComputerTV want to do something about it by giving away the equipment you need to revamp a network. Just make a video that lasts between 30 seconds and three minutes that shows why you (and not the thousands of others entrants) deserve a new network. Why not make a school project out of it that involves teachers, students and parents. Just get your entry in at Computer TV's site before midnight on Sunday, March 29th.

Do You Know the Way to San Jose?

That’s Costa Rica. Well, two hard working and lucky biology teachers will go to Costa Rico to study tropical ecosystems. Sponsored by Pearson, the Tropical Biology Scholarships 2009 will pay for two high school biology teachers to the study adventure of a career at the Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS) in Costa Rica. Interested teachers need to apply online with a 500 word essay on how going to Costa Rico will change the way they teach science. The deadline is March 1st and the winners will be announced at the National Science Teachers Association Conference later in March. The two-week trip will take place in early July, 2009. On top of having the opportunity to explore the rain forests, the winners will conduct field research 

Instant History

If you’re looking for a fresh way to present last month’s inauguration of Barack Obama to social studies students, ABC-CLIO is sponsoring a contest for secondary school kids to write about history in the making. Called Think Historically, the contest invites teams of middle- and high-school students to submit a presentation (slide show, online essay, podcast or animation) about the ten people, events or locations that shaped history the most. The good news is that participants will get three months free access to ABC-CLIO’s 8 online databases to work with and $60,000 in cash and prizes are at stake, but the bad news is that the deadline for submissions is March 30.

 

Finding the Next Einstein

Have you ever had a kid in one of your classes who was so scientifically curious that you knew for sure she’d one day be a scientist or engineer but there wasn’t much you could provide for her other than encouragement? When encouragement isn’t enough, how does $50,000 sound? I thought so. The top prize in this year’s Young Scientist Challenge is a $50,000 savings bond and a trip to New York City. Sponsored by Discovery Education and 3M, the challenge seeks to find and develop the next generation of scientists that this country (and the world) needs. To compete, middle school students need to send in a 1 or 2 minute video that outlines how to solve a specific problem. Anything from solving global warming to cutting the glare you see on a TV screen are all fair game. Don’t worry if you can’t make a professional looking video because the clips will be judged on creativity, persuasiveness, classroom suitability and overall presentation, not on video skills. My advice to future mad scientists, get going because the clips need to be in by May 20, 2009.

Going Green With Prizes

If you are a middle-school teacher or administrator and you wanted to enter the We Can Change the World Challenge, but didn’t really know how, there will be a series of explanatory Webinars today (January 13 at 4:30 PM), Wednesday (January 14, at 5:30 and 6:45 PM) and Thursday (January 15, at 5:30 PM). The contest, the rules and the prizes will be discussed. Sponsored by Siemens, the National Science Teachers Association and Discovery, the contest is looking for groups of two or three middle-school students and a teacher or mentor to identify a key environmental issue in their school or community and create a solution to the problem. A winning team from each state will compete for a slew of prizes and an appearance on Discovery’s 24-hour Planet Green channel. The due date of March 15 is coming up quickly, so it’s time to get started.

For more info, go to the contest’s site and click on Events Center at the top. Click on List of Events at the left, scroll down to Other Events, and go to the Register link.

What is ... A lot of Fun

Need a little motivation to help keep the excitement up for teaching your next class? Try Classroom Jeopardy StandardsLink Teachers’ contest. Through the end of the year, teachers can test their knowledge of math, language arts and science every week to win Classroom Jeopardy games and $25 coupons for the classroom. The more you play, the greater your chances of winning the grand prize of a Classroom Jeopardy StandardsLink event at your school and other stuff. The big prize will be announced on January 16, 2009.